Let It Die (album)
Let It Die | ||||
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Studio album by Feist | ||||
Released |
May 18, 2004 (CAN) July 12, 2004 (U.K.)[1] | |||
Length | 45:10 | |||
Label | ||||
Producer | Renaud Letang | |||
Feist chronology | ||||
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Canadian cover | ||||
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Let It Die is the second album by Canadian singer-songwriter Feist. It was recorded in Paris during 2002 and 2003 and released in 2004. The album combines jazz, bossa nova and indie rock.
Background
Let It Die was welcomed as one of the best Canadian pop albums of 2004. It was nominated for three Juno Awards in 2005, and won two: Best Alternative Album and Best New Artist. A track from the album, "Inside and Out", was nominated as Single of the Year in the 2006 Juno Awards. In 2012, NOW Magazine ranked Let It Die at #4 on list of The 50 Best Toronto Albums Ever.[2]
Let It Die has attracted a significant international audience. The album was originally divided into original compositions on the first half and cover versions on the second, though a reissue later in 2004 added a further original composition as the penultimate track.
The single "Mushaboom" is a pun on sh-boom as a refrain, and the Mushaboom, the Canadian coastal community east of Halifax, Nova Scotia, the province where Feist was born. The song was used in a Lacoste commercial.
Composition
Music and lyrics
Barry Walters of Rolling Stone likened Feist's vocals on the album to "the jazz tingle of Peggy Lee", and her melodicism to Tin Pan Alley.[3] Walters also believed Let It Die to draw influence from chamber pop, chill-out, postmodern folk, and Burt Bacharach, and described the album as "indie lounge pop".[3]
Let It Die contains elements of folk, bossa nova, and indie rock.[4]
Critical reception
Professional ratings | |
---|---|
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | |
Entertainment Weekly | A−[6] |
Pitchfork | 8.1/10[7] |
Rolling Stone | |
Uncut | 8/10[8] |
MacKenzie Wilson of AllMusic gave praise to the various production choices on the tracks and the vocal work over it, saying that "[S]he's playful with her design and the overall composition flows nicely. Feist has varied styles and sounds just right, and that's what makes Let It Die the secret treasure that it is."[5] Barry Walters, writing for Rolling Stone, also lauded praise for the album's eclectic genre and vocal dynamics, saying that "Feist proves she's a modern gal with a sparse yet varied sound that draws from chamber pop, chill-out, postmodern folk, Burt Bacharach and beyond."[3]
At the 2017 Polaris Music Prize, the album won the public vote for the Heritage Prize in the 1996-2005 category.[9]
Track listing
Canadian version on Arts & Crafts | |||
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No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
1. | "Gatekeeper" | Feist, Gonzales | 2:16 |
2. | "Mushaboom" | Feist | 3:44 |
3. | "Let It Die" | Feist | 2:55 |
4. | "One Evening" | Feist | 3:36 |
5. | "Leisure Suite" | Feist, Gonzales | 4:07 |
6. | "L'amour ne dure pas toujours" | Françoise Hardy | 3:16 |
7. | "Lonely Lonely" | music by Tony Scherr, lyrics by Feist | 4:10 |
8. | "When I Was a Young Girl" | traditional, inspired by Texas Gladden | 3:08 |
9. | "Secret Heart" | Ron Sexsmith | 3:49 |
10. | "Inside and Out" | Barry Gibb, Maurice Gibb, Robin Gibb | 4:17 |
11. | "Now at Last" | Bob Haymes | 3:16 |
US/UK version on Interscope | |||
---|---|---|---|
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
1. | "Gatekeeper" | Feist, Gonzales | 2:16 |
2. | "Mushaboom" | Feist | 3:44 |
3. | "Let It Die" | Feist | 2:55 |
4. | "One Evening" | Feist | 3:36 |
5. | "Leisure Suite" | Feist, Gonzales | 4:07 |
6. | "Lonely Lonely" | music by Tony Scherr, lyrics by Feist | 4:10 |
7. | "When I Was a Young Girl" | traditional, inspired by Texas Gladden | 3:08 |
8. | "Secret Heart" | Ron Sexsmith | 3:49 |
9. | "Inside and Out" | Barry Gibb, Maurice Gibb, Robin Gibb | 4:17 |
10. | "Tout doucement" | Emile Jean Mercadier, Rene Albert Clausier | 2:31 |
11. | "Now at Last" | Bob Haymes | 3:16 |
Australian version on Interscope | |||
---|---|---|---|
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
1. | "Gatekeeper" | Feist, Gonzales | 2:16 |
2. | "Mushaboom" | Feist | 3:44 |
3. | "Let It Die" | Feist | 2:55 |
4. | "One Evening" | Feist | 3:36 |
5. | "Leisure Suite" | Feist, Gonzales | 4:07 |
6. | "Lonely Lonely" | music by Tony Scherr, lyrics by Feist | 4:10 |
7. | "When I Was a Young Girl" | traditional, inspired by Texas Gladden | 3:08 |
8. | "Secret Heart" | Ron Sexsmith | 3:49 |
9. | "Inside and Out" | Barry Gibb, Maurice Gibb, Robin Gibb | 4:17 |
10. | "Tout doucement" | Emile Jean Mercadier, Rene Albert Clausier | 2:31 |
11. | "Now at Last" | Bob Haymes | 3:16 |
12. | "Gatekeeper" (full mix) | Feist | 2:43 |
13. | "Lover's Spit" (live on XFM) | Broken Social Scene | 7:35 |
Interscope deluxe edition | |||
---|---|---|---|
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
1. | "Gatekeeper" | Feist, Gonzales | 2:16 |
2. | "Mushaboom" | Feist | 3:44 |
3. | "Let It Die" | Feist | 2:55 |
4. | "One Evening" | Feist | 3:36 |
5. | "Leisure Suite" | Feist, Gonzales | 4:07 |
6. | "Lonely Lonely" | music by Tony Scherr, lyrics by Feist | 4:10 |
7. | "When I Was a Young Girl" | traditional, inspired by Texas Gladden | 3:08 |
8. | "Secret Heart" | Ron Sexsmith | 3:49 |
9. | "Inside and Out" | Barry Gibb, Maurice Gibb, Robin Gibb | 4:17 |
10. | "Tout doucement" | Emile Jean Mercadier, Rene Albert Clausier | 2:31 |
11. | "Now at Last" | Bob Haymes | 3:16 |
12. | "Amourissima" | Gonzales, Feist, Pierre Grillet | 3:27 |
13. | "L'Amour ne dure pas toujours" | Françoise Hardy | 3:19 |
Personnel
Charts and certifications
Chart | Peak position |
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Austrian Albums Chart | 51 |
Belgian Albums Chart (Wallonia) | 47 |
French Albums Chart | 38 |
German Albums Chart | 92 |
U.S. Billboard Top Heatseekers | 36 |
Certifications and sales
Region | Certification | Certified units/Sales |
---|---|---|
France (SNEP)[10] | Gold | 162,300 [11]* |
Canada (Music Canada)[12] | Gold | 100,000[13] |
United States (RIAA)[14] | none | 190,000[15] |
Worldwide (IFPI) | N/A | 500,000[16] |
*sales figures based on certification alone |
References
- ↑ "albums: Let It Die (2004)". hmv.com. Retrieved 2012-05-04.
- ↑ "The 50 Best Toronto Albums Ever". NOW Magazine. Archived from the original on 2013-01-06. Retrieved 2013-01-04.
- 1 2 3 4 Walters, Barry (July 28, 2005). "Let It Die". Rolling Stone. Retrieved May 15, 2014.
- ↑ Dye, David (July 25, 2005). "Feist Takes an Eclectic Turn on Her Solo Record". NPR. Retrieved November 2, 2017.
- 1 2 Wilson, MacKenzie. "Let It Die – Feist". AllMusic. Retrieved May 15, 2014.
- ↑ Greenblatt, Leah (May 9, 2005). "Let It Die". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved June 3, 2016.
- ↑ Pytlik, Mark (July 13, 2004). "Feist: Let It Die". Pitchfork. Retrieved May 15, 2014.
- ↑ Anderson, Jason (June 2017). "Feist: The Path to Pleasure". Uncut (241): 18.
- ↑ "Tragically Hip album makes Polaris Heritage Prize list". Toronto Star, October 25, 2017.
- ↑ "French album certifications – Feist – Let It Die" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique.
- ↑ http://www.infodisc.fr/Ventes_Albums_Tout_Temps.php?debut=2750
- ↑ "Canadian album certifications – Feist – Let It Die". Music Canada.
- ↑ CRIA Gold & Platinum certifications for December 2006 Archived
- ↑ "American album certifications – Feist – Let It Die". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH.
- ↑ https://www.reuters.com/article/music-canada-dc/feists-hit-album-a-big-boost-for-canadian-label-idUSN2032187620080621
- ↑ http://www.femalefirst.co.uk/music/musicnews/Feist-47160.html