Canadian singer-songwriter Leslie Feist probably appreciates the financial rewards—and subsequent artistic freedom—that a hit brings, but if she had it to do over again, would she want to be so closely identified with the chirpy 2007 pop single “1234,” or with 2004’s equally sprightly “Mushaboom?” Judging by Metals, her follow-up to the million-selling LP The Reminder, Feist is anxious to be thought of more as the adventurous artist she actually is, and not as some elfin waif who wandered off the set of a puppet show and into a recording studio. Metals is largely ditty-free, tilting heavily toward Feist’s folk, R&B, and avant-garde sides. Anyone who listened closely to The Reminder and Let It Die shouldn’t be too surprised by this; only those who think of Feist as a novelty act will be baffled.
