Artist: Feist
Album: Metals
Genre: Indie Pop
Label: Cherrytree/Interscope

My memory is absolutely atrocious, which is why I feel like it’s never too early to start my album of the year list. I probably start mine around March, it’s been revised countless times, and many slots have been left open, but if I had waited until December to recall my favorite albums of the year, my entire top 10 would have been released no earlier than September. I definitely would have forgotten about Lucky Street by Go Radio, the album that inspired my premature list in the first place. But such is the mindset of the music industry as a whole these days. But here we are in october, I know what’s been released, I have a good idea of what’s going to be released by the end of the year, and yet, I was still left with an empty spot. I didn’t want to throw just any mediocre album in there because, apparently, I place a lot of importance in this arbitrary list. But this past week, before this review even came up, I decided to check out the new Feist album, Metals, no idea why, just felt like it really. I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect, but I wasn’t really expecting it to make too much of a lasting impact. But I could not have been more wrong, immediately after my first listen, I knew this album deserved a spot on my list, and not only just a spot, but one very close to the top. I’m no longer concerned about closing my album of the year list out with filler, but now I’m sort of concerned that, comparatively speaking, some of these other albums that have held spots on my list have now been reduced to filler themselves.

Not only was I surprised about and album coming out of nowhere to surprise me in such a huge way, but I was surprised that I liked it so much to begin with. Feist is not exactly conventional in any sense; technically speaking Metals would be classified as a pop album, but that label doesn’t really paint the whole picture, the album is a very eclectic and elaborate pop album. In that sense, it’s a lot like a Bon Iver album, technically a pop album, but it seems safe to assume that it would be too inaccessible for the average listener. And yet, somehow, I have yet to find someone that dislikes Bon Iver, or Metals, for that matter. It’s sort of a paradox really, but regardless, I was enthralled by this album in a completely inexplicable way. I was instantly in love with this album, when it started off with “The Bad in Each Other”, one of the more upbeat, rhythmic, and driven songs on the album, featuring a huge array of instruments, from piano to strings and horns, bolstering the powerful and gorgeous voice of Leslie Feist. But I was fully sold on this album by the third song, “Caught A Long Wind”, a sauntering, downtempo piece that was actually quite the opposite of “The Bad in Each Other”, but just as brilliant, really showcasing the diversity Feist is capable of.

I’m not quite sure why I take this silly, pointless list so seriously, but it’s entertaining if nothing else. Whatever the reason though, I’ve been periodically updating it all year, and most of the albums on that list have been on there for awhile, and I knew they were going to make it onto the list before the album was even released. I had put The Horrible Crowes at number one, in anticipation, since June, long before the first single was even released, a bit presumptuous perhaps, but I know that I like. But that said, it’s very rare that I get caught so off guard by an album, which is probably why I’m so confident in my assumptions, but Metals completely discounted my confidence. It redefined how I perceived albums, maybe I’ll even be more willing to check out albums I would have otherwise ignored, but perhaps I’m getting ahead of myself. But either way, Feist has released an album that is nothing short of phenomenal, to the point where, out of nowhere, it managed to outshine the several hundred other albums I’ve listened to this year, and become a very real contender for my favorite album released this year.

SCORE: 9/10
Reviewed by: Mike Hogan

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James Shotwell

James Shotwell is the founder of Under The Gun Review. He loves writing about music and movies almost as much as he loves his two fat cats. He's also the co-founder of Antique Records and the Marketing Coordinator for Haulix. You should probably follow him on Twitter.

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