Feist

Born in Amherst, Nova Scotia and linked to the Calgary scene, then Toronto, Leslie Feist, who records under the name Feist, has since the late 1990s developed a writing style that sits between indie pop, folk and chamber pop, with a marked taste for clean arrangements, vocal play and songs built around the guitar. After starting out in a punk band in Calgary, she passed through By Divine Right, collaborated with Peaches and Chilly Gonzales, and then settled more permanently into the Broken Social Scene collective, a significant anchor in her career. Feist launched her solo career with Monarch (Lay Your Jewelled Head Down) in 1999, before Let It Die in 2004, an album that refines a more hushed format, between ballads, orchestrated pop and reinterpreted covers. The Reminder in 2007 further broadens her reach with a more direct melodic writing, while not breaking with an intimate aesthetic. Feist continued with Metals in 2011, more earthy and contrasted, then Pleasure in 2017, centered on drier and more front-facing compositions. In 2023, Multitudes extends this trajectory with a more introspective body of work derived from a stage project designed for tighter formats. Over the years, Feist has also sung with Kings of Convenience, Wilco, Mastodon or Hayden, while maintaining a steady flow between singer-songwriter, indie pop and studio or stage collaborations.