Review: Feist - Monarch (Lay Down Your Jeweled Head)

In the 9 years since Feist first released Monarch (Lay Down Your Jeweled Head), she has become an artist that must be virtually unrecognizable to her earlier self. I'm not at all convinced that Feist didn't make some sort of deal with the devil in the five years between Monarch and the acclaimed (see previous post) Let it Die that would give her the unique talent and style that has led her to her current level of success.

The fact is, Monarch is a good effort from anyone else. The style is less defined than later Feist, but the instrumentation (loads of horns, textured electric guitar and, above all else, xylophone) is a signature sound that she has spent almost a decade developing and perfecting. Despite the eventual praise that I and countless other reviewers would heap at her feet, Monarch is very clearly a Freshman effort. Not even -- It's more of a "I'm still a senior in high school but just got into college so I've already checked out" kind of effort.

Musically, it falls flat of her later efforts. Not flat in the pitch sense, but rather flat in affect. There are no upbeat tracks, along the lines of The Reminder's "I Feel It All" and, conversely, there are no solo acoustic dirge's like Let It Die's "Lonely Lonely." Each of the ten tracks is at least boringly similar to all of the others, if not almost indistinguishable. All ten are very pleasant and, had they been written by any other artist with a less illustrious future, would make for a pretty good album. The problem is that they lack the feeling and truth of a memorable collection of songs. There's no story here or, if there is, it's lost on me. Let It Die and The Reminder each take Feist's unique songwriting and vocal abilities to their respective pinnacles, to the point that assessing her earlier work without comparing it to what came later is almost impossible. To see that so much musical greatness has come from such seemingly humble musical beginnings both surprises me as a writer and gives me hope as a musician.

Of course, Leslie Feist is known for her airy vocals and incredible vocal control, which she exercises quite adeptly. She doesn't focus on her lower range very much (see "When I Was A Young Girl" on Let It Die) and her higher-range runs often seem contrived on Monarch, as if the producer said, "Um, hey, Leslie...You haven't flitted your voice in the higher octaves yet in this tune so, do you mind?...Yeah, that's it, thanks." Don't get me wrong, it is a beauty to behold the way she eases up and down the scale. But if she did it a little less on Monarch it might serve her a bit better and make the listener appreciate it more.

The strongest and most redeeming aspect of Monarch is, without a doubt, Feist's obviously natural way with words. Though she is more of a storyteller in her more recent works, she has composed a collection of the honest, ethereal lyrics that are simply...well, I can't even describe them. See for yourself, from the album's title track:

The Queen had a feint had a fall
Don't give me ether or open my vein I'm sane
I know I'm sane
I don't give a care for the crown or the shield
I will not protect you or happily yield
To the one who makes me come undone

Who was born and in what way
All the fields and poppies ay
Who was born and in what way
All the fields

What does that mean?!?! I can't honestly tell you, but I think the words themselves sound absolutely perfect when you put them to music, even if the music itself could be better.

Despite my best efforts to avoid prejudgement of Monarch, I did just that. I knew I'd get masterful lyrics and a pre-frosh musical effort, and I knew that I'd probably be hard on it because of my expectations for Feist. But because of those very same expectations, I was willing to keep an open mind and be forgiving of any wrongdoing on her debut album. After all, in the decade that followed she would make some of the most memorable music out there.

Monarch is a late-90's popfest that is truly lovable only outside the scope of the rest of Feist's career. As a standalone album, it's an easy listen that doesn't shock but also doesn't surprise. As part of her discography, though, it is sure to disappoint while it sheds a historically useful light onto her Broken Social Scene/solo artist transition.