Feist

In The Fader's November 2004 issue, Canadian expatriate Leslie Feist describes herself as a cross-pollinator. This is a wholly appropriate summation of the smokily seductive singer. Now living in Paris, Feist has played with fellow Canadians Peaches and Broken Social Scene as well as Norwegians Kings of Convenience. Her sophomore album -- five originals and six covers (including standouts by Ron Sexsmith and the Bee Gees) co-produced with Chilly Gonzales -- cross-pollinates breezy Roaring Twenties radio-pop ("Mushaboom"), jazzy lament (the dusky title track), and jaunty accoutrements (such as the disco-dappling on "Inside and Out"). She sings for a cocktail-hour salon, a folk sit-in, and a velvety piano bar, and resonates with the same beguiling detachment as Sade, Françoise Hardy, and Astrud Gilberto.