FEIST – "METALS"

"I don't think the label even knew that I was making a record until we said, 'OK, we're recording next week.' It was like in a movie where everyone freezes and one character is still moving, and then I pressed un-pause and everyone came back to life and I threw an album at them." - Leslie Feist, Feist

After 2007's breakthrough album The Reminder, you'd think Feist's label wouldn't be surprised that she was ready to record a new album. But then you learn that she took a two year hiatus from writing music and suddenly the label's astonishment makes sense. The break from songwriting was exactly what Feist needed. The commercial success of The Reminder left her schedule pre-determined months in advance for a couple years and she needed time to clear her mind to find a blank slate.

Once her guitar came calling, she headed for the Paris studio where she recorded The Reminder and started her fourth studio album, Metals. After establishing a foundation, Feist brought the songs back to the United States and assembled a few familiar faces to work on the record. While Metals is a very beautiful record, fans shouldn't search for another "1234".

"'1234' started to speak on its own behalf. You know when you stare at the sun and then you look at something and you can't see anything because your retina's been burned out a bit? There was an external retina burning that happened with '1234', and it didn't really speak to the reality. It also cut a lot of tethers to the past that were really relevant to me. It was really double-edged. I had no motivation in me to try to get back to that place. So I needed to make sure that there wasn't a song on this album that that could happen with."

To hear a selection from Metals, which is out today via Interscope, watch Feist perform "The Circle Married The Line" live on KCRW.

– The Music Director