The Reminder
2007 studio album by Feist
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The Reminder is the third studio album by the Canadian singer-songwriter Feist. It was released on April 23, 2007 in countries outside of North America, and May 1, 2007 in the United States and Canada.[3]
| The Reminder | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | April 23, 2007 | |||
| Recorded | March 2006 | |||
| Genre | Indie pop[1] | |||
| Length | 50:01 | |||
| Label | ||||
| Producer |
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| Feist chronology | ||||
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| Singles from The Reminder | ||||
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Following its release, it debuted on the US Billboard 200 at number 16, selling about 31,000 copies in its first week,[4] and debuted at number 2 in Canada, selling just over 18,000 copies.[5] The single "1234" charted on both the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and the UK Top 40. As of July 25, 2011, the album has sold 729,000 copies in the US.[6] The Reminder was also the best-selling album of 2007 on the iTunes Store.[7]
On November 25, 2008, a deluxe edition of the album was released as a two-disc package featuring nine bonus tracks on the second disc.[8][1]
Composition
Track 6 of the album, "Sealion", is an adaptation of a song by singer Nina Simone (Broadway-Blues-Ballads, 1964). The original title was "See Line Woman" (a reference to sealions was never intended), and refers to the life of an upper-class sex worker.[9]
Promotion
The Reminder was supported by four singles: "My Moon My Man", "1234", "I Feel It All", and "Honey Honey". The "My Moon My Man" single includes a remix by German electronic musician Boys Noize. Videos were directed by Patrick Daughters, who also directed the video for "Mushaboom".[10]
During September 2007, the song "1234" was featured in Apple's television advertisement for the third-generation iPod Nano. The advert caused a sudden increase in the song's popularity, which resulted in a surge in the song's chart position. It reached number 8 in the UK Singles Chart on October 7 and number 8 in the Billboard Hot 100 for the week ending October 13. The music video was shot in a single unbroken take after two days of rehearsals.[11]
eBay also used the song in Australian advertisements. Another single, "My Moon My Man", was used in a Verizon Wireless commercial.
Critical reception
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 79/100[12] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic | |
| The A.V. Club | A−[14] |
| Blender | |
| Entertainment Weekly | A[16] |
| The Guardian | |
| The Irish Times | |
| Pitchfork | 8.8/10[19] |
| Rolling Stone | |
| Spin | |
| Uncut | |
This album was No. 35 on Rolling Stone's list of the Top 50 Albums of 2007.[23]
On July 10, 2007, the shortlist for the Polaris Music Prize was revealed. The Reminder was announced as a finalist, alongside such other acts as The Besnard Lakes, Chad VanGaalen, and eventual winner Patrick Watson.[24][25][26]
Kelefa Sanneh of The New York Times ranked The Reminder at #1,[27] and Jon Pareles ranked it at No. 2 on list of the 10 Best Albums of 2007.[28]
Time magazine named "1234" one of The 10 Best Songs of 2007, ranking it at #2. The song was written by Australian artist Sally Seltmann (a.k.a. New Buffalo). Writer Josh Tyrangiel called the song a “masterpiece”, praising Feist for singing it "with a mixture of wisdom and exuberance that's all her own."[29][30]
Less than a year after its release, Blender listed the album 80th on their list of The 100 Greatest Indie-Rock Albums Ever.[31] Online music magazine Pitchfork placed The Reminder at number 112 on their list of top 200 albums of the 2000s.[32]
Feist won the 2007 Shortlist Music Prize for The Reminder; she is the second woman (after Cat Power) to ever win the award.[33]
It won Juno Awards in 2008 for Pop Album of the Year and for Album of the Year. After winning her 5 Junos,[34] in Canada her album sales shot back up the chart from No. 12 to No. 2, the position her album debuted at.[35] It was also nominated for Best Pop Vocal Album at the 50th Grammy Awards.[36]
| Publisher | Accolade | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Amazon.com | Best of 2007: Top 100 Editors' Picks[37] | 1 |
| Best of 2007: Top 100 Customer Favorites[38] | 11 | |
| National Public Radio | Listeners' Picks[39] | 3 |
| No Ripcord | Top 50 Albums of 2007[40] | 11 |
| Pitchfork | Top 50 Albums of 2007[41] | 19 |
| PopMatters | The Best Albums of 2007[42] | 26 |
| Rolling Stone | The Best Albums of 2007[43] | 35 |
| Spin | The 40 Best Albums of 2007[44] | 18 |
| Time | Top 10 Albums[45] | 3 |
Track listing
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "So Sorry" | 3:12 | |
| 2. | "I Feel It All" | Feist | 3:39 |
| 3. | "My Moon My Man" |
| 3:48 |
| 4. | "The Park" | Feist | 4:34 |
| 5. | "The Water" |
| 4:34 |
| 6. | "Sealion" |
| 3:51 |
| 7. | "Past in Present" | Feist | 2:54 |
| 8. | "The Limit to Your Love" |
| 4:21 |
| 9. | "1234" |
| 3:03 |
| 10. | "Brandy Alexander" |
| 3:36 |
| 11. | "Intuition" | Feist | 4:36 |
| 12. | "Honey Honey" | Feist | 3:27 |
| 13. | "How My Heart Behaves" |
| 4:26 |
| Total length: | 53:41 | ||
- "Sealion" contains elements from "Sea Lion Woman" by George Bass and Nina Simone.
- UK bonus track
- "Honey Honey" (Live at Toronto's Danforth Music Hall) – 4:37
- Japanese bonus tracks
- "Intuition" (Live at Toronto's Danforth Music Hall) – 6:14
- "My Moon My Man" (video) – 3:41
- "1234" (video) – 3:14
- iTunes Store bonus tracks
- "Sealion" (Feist, Bass, Simone) (Chromeo remix) – 3:45
- "The Water" (Red demos) – 4:13
- Best Buy bonus tracks
- "Honey Honey" (live with fade out) – 4:34
- "Intuition" (live with fade out) – 6:14
- "Fighting Away the Tears" (with Mocky) – 3:17
- Deluxe edition second disc bonus tracks
- "I Feel It All" (Escort Remix)
- "Sealion" (Chromeo Remix)
- "My Moon My Man" (Boys Noize Classic Mix)
- "1234" (Van She Remix)
- "Fightin' Away the Tears" [with Mocky]
- "So Sorry" (One Mic Mix)
- "My Moon My Man" (Grizzly Bear Remix)
- Broken Social Scene: "Lover's Spit" (Redux)
- "Islands in the Stream" (with The Constantines)
- "My Moon My Man" [video]
- "1234" (Director's Cut) [video]
- "I Feel It All" [video]
- "Honey Honey" [video]
Singles
Charts
Weekly charts
|
Year-end charts
|
Certifications and sales
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Australia (ARIA)[67] | Gold | 35,000^ |
| Austria (IFPI Austria)[68] | Gold | 10,000* |
| Canada (Music Canada)[69] | 2× Platinum | 200,000^ |
| France (SNEP)[70] | Gold | 75,000* |
| Germany (BVMI)[71] | Gold | 100,000‡ |
| United Kingdom (BPI)[72] | Gold | 100,000^ |
| United States (RIAA)[73] | Gold | 729,000[6] |
| Summaries | ||
| Worldwide | N/a | 1,500,000 [74] |
|
* Sales figures based on certification alone. | ||
Personnel
(Expressions in italics taken from the album credits)
- Leslie Feist – vocals, acoustic and electric guitars, banjo, piano on "The Water"
- Chilly Gonzales – piano, organs, vibraphone, drums
- Jesse Baird – drums
- Mocky – acoustic bass, Farfisa, organ
- Bryden Baird – trumpet, flugelhorn, percussion
- Julian Brown – electric bass, melodica
- Jamie Lidell – energy arrangement and vocals on "So Sorry"
- Town Hall (Jamie Lidell, Julian Brown, Bryden Baird, Mocky, Jesse Baird, Chilly Gonzales and Feist) – group percussion and backup vocals
- Guests
- Ohad Benchetrit – the mystery on the bridge of "My Moon My Man"
- Charles Spearin – the mystery on the bridge of "My Moon My Man"
- Afie Jurvanen – leader of the lead guitars on the bridge of "Sealion"
- Sandra Baron – violin on "The Limit to Your Love" and "1234"
- Mary Stein – cello on "The Limit to Your Love" and "1234"
- Ben Mink – strings and acoustic rhythm guitar on "1234"
- Kevin Drew – backing vocals on "Honey Honey"
- Brendan Canning – backing vocals on "Honey Honey"
- Pierre Luc Jamain – organ bass on "Honey Honey"
- Lori Gemmel – harp on "Honey Honey"
- Eirik Glambek Bøe – vocals on "How My Heart Behaves"