Somewhere in between living with Peaches, playing guitar with By Divine Right, rapping with Chilly Gonzales, and singing with Broken Social Scene and Apostle of Hustle, Canadian songstress Feist started a solo career. Following up 1999's self-released Monarch, Let It Die was recorded in Paris between 2002 and 2003. The romance of the City of Lights glows throughout as a combination of folk, bossa nova, jazz-pop, and indie rock finds its place among the 11-track song list. She'll woo you with her sultry vocals throughout, a delicate and sweet voice that feels cozy. From the warm shimmy and shake of "Gatekeeper" and "Mushaboom" to the classy R&B grooves of "One Evening" and "Leisure Suite," Feist explores various musical worlds without getting lost. She reels you into different soundscapes and it's an exciting adventure. Dare yourself to imagine Patrice Rushen, Ivy's Dominique Durand, and Astrud Gilberto in a group, and that's basically the beginning threads of Let It Die. Feist never holds back sonically or musically; however, Let It Die isn't an extravagant first album. She'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. Her rendition of Ron Sexsmith's "Secret Heart" is a cinematic outing for a dewy spring day. The Bee Gees' "Inside and Out" gets a foxy makeover for what is probably the album's finest moment. Feist's soft touch makes magic on these particular covers, and the bittersweet loveliness of Blossom Dearie's "Now at Last" ties it all together to make Let It Die a storybook romance. ~ MacKenzie Wilson

A longtime presence in the Canadian music scene, Leslie Feist contributed her breathy, expressive alto voice to releases by a diverse range of artists, including Peaches, Broken Social Scene, and the Norwegian duo Kings of Convenience. However, on Feist's solo debut, this talented singer/songwriter comes into her own with stories of love and light, and a melancholy kind of beauty not immediately apparent by the album's cryptic title, LET IT DIE.

Jazz-influenced and classically schooled, Feist possesses a voice with a distinctive intimacy often lacking in trained singers. This warmth complements the well-orchestrated compositions on LET IT DIE with an almost voyeuristic atmosphere, akin to hearing someone singing herself to sleep. On the bluesy spiritual "Lonely Lonely," rhythmic handclaps and sparsely picked guitar accompany Feist's haunting lilt, invoking the ghosts of Appalachia, while the Bee Gees' "Love You Inside Out" (here titled "Inside and Out") is set to an up-tempo disco beat. Feist's vocal agility enables her to sing straight French cabaret on "Tout Doucement" and smooth, soulful jazz on "Gatekeeper." The song that will make the tears fall, though, is the 1930s-esque, cinematic piano ballad "Now at Last," in which Feist dreamily sings "What makes winters lonely?/Now at last I know."