What We Say
"Born Leslie Feist in Amherst, Nova Scotia, singer/songwriter Feist relocated to Calgary at a young age and got her start playing in an all-girl punk band named Placebo (not to be confused with the U.K. modern rock act of the same name). After winning a battle-of-the-bands contest, Placebo (whose members were still in high school) played their first gig opening for the Ramones in 1991, and for the next five years, Feist sharpened her rock & roll ways alongside her bandmates. Touring across Canada ultimately took its toll on Feist, who had strained her voice so harshly that she was told she'd never sing again. To regain focus and seek medical assistance from another specialist, Feist left her hometown and resettled in Toronto in 1998. After being advised to stop singing for six months, Feist bought a guitar and spent most of that time in her basement, where she began crafting a quirky pop sound and documented her progress with a four-track recorder. A year later, Feist was asked to join By Divine Right as the group's touring guitarist. The new gig found her playing in front of stadium crowds as By Divine Right opened for the Tragically Hip across North America, yet it still afforded her enough time to record and self-release her first solo album, 1999's Monarch (Lay Down Your Jeweled Head). After playing some smaller solo gigs in the Toronto area, Feist moved in with electroclash rap vixen Peaches in 2000. Peaches christened Feist "Bitch Lap-Lap," and from there, Feist helped record and tour in support of Peaches' debut album, Teaches of Peaches. Never keen on staying too long in one place, Feist joined Broken Social Scene during the recording of that group's sophomore effort, You Forgot It in People. The album became a critical success after its release in 2002, winning Broken Social Scene a Juno Award for Alternative Album of the Year. Meanwhile, Feist had already begun formulating plans for a second solo album. When she wasn't touring North America and Europe with Broken Social Scene, she worked on her solo material with Renaud Letang of Manu Chao and Chilly Gonzales, often traveling back and forth between Calgary, Toronto, and Paris for the recording sessions. Let It Die was soon released on the Arts & Crafts label in May 2004, and the sprightly single "Mushaboom" enjoyed airplay in Canada, France, and America. By the end of the following year, the album had earned Feist her greatest acclaim to date, and she took home two Juno Awards for her work. Open Season, a collection of remixes, collaborations, and other songs, was released in 2006. Feist then set to work on her next full-length effort, recording and assembling the material in one week in a rented house near Paris. The Reminder hit shelves in the spring of 2007, where it debuted at number two in Canada and number 16 on the U.S. Billboard charts. Supported by singles like "My Moon My Man" and "1234," the album became the year's best-selling item on iTunes, took home five Juno Awards, earned four Grammy nominations, and paved the way for Look at What the Light Did Now, a documentary film highlighting the album and its accompanying tour. Feist's fourth studio album was preceded by a flurry of viral videos that offered choice bits from selected tracks, leading up to the official release of Metals' first single, "How Come You Never Go There." The 14-track recording, which featured duets with Vanessa Carlton and Marina & the Diamonds, arrived on October 4, 2011." - MacKenzie Wilson, AllMusicGuide
