This, ladies and gentlemen, is the Feist we should’ve known could happen. Of course, Let It Die was an exceptional, unassailably cool album, displaying her warm lounge/indie-pop sound, but what it lacked in complexity, The Reminder makes up for in almost every sense. One might dare say that Let It Die seems almost one-dimensional in comparison. I was absolutely struck by how much more assured her voice is this go-round. Feist exhibits the vocal strength and range on the entire album (“The Park” and “1,2,3,4” make this especially evident)that we only had glimpses of on Let It Die.

Her musical range has also been expanded upon. Pipe down, pipe down, she hasn’t lost any of her acoustic sensibilities, too-cool-for-school lounge feel or aptitude for maintaining the integrity of the well-chosen songs she covers, she’s just expanded on all those elements. The arrangements on this album are absolutely to die for. Every one of the many instruments she puts into her employ has its moment in the sun and contributes to the lush foundation of her songs, an element infinitely appealing to those wanting to aurally dig apart a song. This is especially evident on the final track “How My Heart Behaves”—one of the most appropriate, well-placed album-enders I’ve heard. This song typifies The Reminder’s richness: piano as the primary carrier of the melody, a gorgeous vocal duet, harp and electric guitar accents make “How My Heart Behaves” feels almost orchestral.

A somewhat surprising feature of this album is that some of the tracks are utterly danceable. “My Moon My Man” (and its innumerable remixes) will doubtless be featured in the classier clubs, what with its up-tempo rhythm. The seriously vivacious “Sea Lion Woman” is also hard to resist getting down to, if completely impossible. In short, Feist is in full bloom on The Reminder and sure to please fans and newcomers alike.