Was Feist's "How Come You Never Go There" Worth the Wait?

Admittedly, Leslie Feist has never raged particularly hard on any of her non-Broken Social Scene material. (See: "7/4 Shoreline") The Canadian songstress, best-known for a serious breakout with "1234" back when the iPod Nano was having a similarly serious breakout four years ago, has recorded tons of wispy, singer/songwritery stuff that borders occasionally on blue-eyed soul and mostly sounds like music you'd put on after the last round of Scattergories is finished. Not to say that we aren't a sucker for that type of thing. (See: "I Feel It All" or her improvement on the Bee Gees' "Inside and Out.")

Now, four years after the Barnes & Noble crowd got smitten with Feist, she's back with Metals, due October 4. The first single, "How Come You Never Go There," has just debuted, and it's not quite what we bargained for.

The first thing that this song brings to mind is The Greatest, an album Cat Power put out prior to Feist's The Reminder. Not to say that there should be some sort of limit on pretty, horn-filled melodies that recall a mystical, smoky bar tucked into a well-to-do neighborhood of Memphis, but damn it, this is exactly like a trip we've taken before.

Given that "How Come You Never Go There" has already hit radio in Denver, it's likely that there could be some rain-kissed windows accompanying this song in a moody promotion for a luxury car or perhaps Lindor Truffles. Having listened to this about seven times now, it's still not sinking in. Perhaps you'll fare better.

How Come You Never Go There by Feist

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