Fresh Tracks: 2/23/23

New music from Feist, Andy Shauf, Caroline Polachek, and more

Your music-loving internet farm cat is back with new bounty.

Every week or so, I scour the wilds of the worldwide web, looking for sounds to leave at your doorstep. I humbly offer you the results of my hunt, asking for but a small figure for my efforts. Apply your contributions accordingly.

We have a lot of Canadians in the mix this week, from well-established acts like Andy Shauf and Feist to lesser-known treasures like Danny James and Villages. As is often the case, indie/alternative takes up most of the pie, but you’ll also find a little ambient music and neo-soul in there, too. Enjoy!

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Feist - “In Lightning”

Feist is one of those Canadian artists that can prick up the ears of any serious music lover with new music. Never to be pigeon-holed, the artist continues to surprise with every new album. Based on its first three singles, the upcoming Multitudes sounds to be no different.

Part Metals-era folk rock, part Pleasures-era studio experiment, “In Lightning” combines Feist’s signature voice with march-band-tripping percussion and a bolt-dodging riff shared by a cave-dwelling guitar and synth that makes me think of dwarves at work, constructing Khazad-dûm¹. The song sounds like it was built to be performed by a modern ballet troupe.

Spotify | Apple Music

Andy Shauf - “Sunset”

We don’t have to wait as long for an Andy Shauf album as we often do for music from Feist, but that doesn’t seem to limit our excitement for it any. His new LP, Norm, arrived last week, and it displays the songwriter in his element, weaving stories, characters, and themes across the album to build what’s just as much a novella as it is a set of songs.