Following the release of her fierce comeback single, “Pleasure”, Feist joined Zane Lowe on his Beats 1 Radio program on Tuesday. In the 30-minute segment, the singer discussed her upcoming album (due April 28th) and her six-year hiatus.
Now 41 years old, Feist said she took a break from music to figure what she’d been missing after more than two decades in the studio and on the road. She admitted she wanted some time to reflect and ask herself, “Did 16-year-old Leslie decide what forever Leslie was going to do?” “I just wanted to take a breath and see if I was supposed to be a macrame teacher, or, I don’t know, go back to school and become a scientist,” she revealed.
After some soul-searching and rekindling neglected relationships, she’s thankfully returned to music. Though songwriting remained one of her true callings, the forthcoming Pleasure will be a departure from some of her previous work. The album was recorded in Paris with longtime collaborator Mocky and co-producer Renaud LeTang. However, another fixture in her career, Chilly Gonzales, didn’t play as major a role this time around, though he was invited to “speckle his DNA” on it.
“So he has couple moments that pretty much only me and Mocky and Renaud can hear, just to have his presence,” Feist told Lowe. “We’ve got another 50 years of making albums, we have to save some. We have to allow new eras to dawn, you know, whatever that might be.”
Feist went into further detail about Pleasure, which spans 11 new tracks. “I guess it’s sort of like constructing a set list at a show,” she mused. “The first three songs should encapsulate everywhere we’re going to go in the next hour and a half … You show them the scope of it. The song is kinda that of the record. It’s an indication of the range that’s going to happen over the 11 songs.” She continued, “It’s not all gonna be ballads, it’s not all gonna be a party, no fist-pumping for two hours. Don’t worry. Everyone’s mind’s at ease.”
She also divulged that when she tours to show off the new work, she plans on playing the record from start to finish before launching into older hits.
Elsewhere in the talk, Feist expressed fondness for her collaborators in Broken Social Scene and hinted about future projects. “I haven’t quite stenciled the schedules together to see if there’s going to be windows where I can join Broken on the road, but there’s no doubt I’m really excited about that coming together again.”
Listen to the full interview below and check out the new single below.
