Pleasure (Feist album)

Pleasure is the fifth studio album by the Canadian singer-songwriter Feist, released on 28 April 2017, through Universal Music Canada. Thematically, the album is said to explore "emotional limits ... loneliness, private ritual, secrets, shame, mounting pressures, disconnect, tenderness, rejection, care and the lack thereof."^[2] All of the songs on the album are actually raw takes, as Feist explained on her Twitter: "Our desire was to record that state without guile or go-to's and to pin the songs down with conviction and our straight up human bodies."^[1]

Pleasure
Studio album by Feist
Released	28 April 2017
Recorded	Early 2016[1]
Length	53:28
Label	Universal
Producer	Leslie Feist Mocky Renaud LeTang
Feist chronology
Metals (2011) Pleasure (2017) Multitudes (2023)
Singles from Pleasure
"Pleasure" Released: 17 March 2017 "Century"

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
AnyDecentMusic?	7.6/10[3]
Metacritic	80/100[4]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[5]
The A.V. Club	A−[6]
Entertainment Weekly	B+[7]
The Irish Times	[8]
Mojo	[9]
The Observer	[10]
Pitchfork	7.7/10[11]
Q	[12]
Rolling Stone	[13]
Uncut	9/10[14]

Accolades

Semester-end lists

Pleasure on semester-end best-of lists

Publication	Accolade	Rank	Ref.
The A.V. Club	The Best Albums of 2017 So Far	*	[15]
Consequence of Sound	Top 25 Albums of 2017 (So Far)	13	[16]
Exclaim!	Top 29 Albums of 2017 So Far	3	[17]
Spin	50 Best Albums of 2017 So Far	24	[18]
Stereogum	50 Best Albums of 2017 So Far	19	[19]
Under the Radar	Top 50 Albums of 2017 So Far	13	[20]

Year-end lists

Pleasure on year-end best-of lists

Publication	Accolade	Rank	Ref.
BrooklynVegan	Top 50 Albums of 2017	8	[21]
Drowned in Sound	Favourite Albums of 2017	7	[22]
Exclaim	Top 20 Pop & Rock Albums of 2017	2	[23]
Noisey	The 100 Best Albums of 2017	65	[24]
The Ringer	The Best Albums of 2017	10	[25]
The Skinny	Top 50 Albums of 2017	27	[26]
Spin	50 Best Albums of 2017	42	[27]
Stereogum	50 Best Albums of 2017	40	[28]
Uncut	Albums of the Year 2017	74	[29]
Under the Radar	Top 100 Albums of 2017	30	[30]
Uproxx	50 Best Albums of 2017	26	[31]

Track listing

Pleasure track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Pleasure"	Leslie Feist Dominic Salole	4:45
2.	"I Wish I Didn't Miss You"	Feist	4:18
3.	"Get Not High, Get Not Low"	Feist	4:57
4.	"Lost Dreams"	Feist	5:18
5.	"Any Party"	Feist Salole	5:22
6.	"A Man Is Not His Song"	Feist	4:41
7.	"The Wind"	Feist	4:35
8.	"Century" (featuring Jarvis Cocker)	Feist Jarvis Cocker Brian LeBarton	5:53
9.	"Baby Be Simple"	Feist Salole	6:21
10.	"I'm Not Running Away"	Feist Salole	3:24
11.	"Young Up"	Feist Salole	3:54
Total length:			53:28

Personnel

Musicians

• Leslie Feist – vocals, guitar (all tracks); organ (3, 10, 11); drums, percussion (3); melodica (4), keyboards (5, 8), piano (7), electric bass (8), Mellotron (9)
• Mocky – background vocals (1, 5, 6), drums (1, 5, 6, 8), electric bass (1, 3, 4, 6, 9–11), Mellotron (1), keyboards (3–5, 7), percussion (3, 4, 7–9), organ (8)
• Paul Taylor – background vocals (1, 5, 6), electric bass (1, 2), synthesizer (1), drums (3, 10, 11), percussion (3, 7–9), programming (7)
• Chilly Gonzales – piano (1), organ (8)
• Renaud Letang – background vocals (6)
• Choir! Choir! Choir! – vocals (6)
• Colin Stetson – saxophone (7)
• Jarvis Cocker – oration (8)

Technical

• Feist – production
• Mocky – production
• Renaud Letang – production, mixing, engineering
• Mandy Parnell – mastering
• Thomas Moulin – engineering, mixing assistance
• Jane Tattersall – editing, sound design
• Bella Blasko – engineering assistance
• Guillaume Dujardin – engineering assistance
• Scott McDowell – engineering assistance

Artwork

• Mary Rasmussen – art direction, design
• Cass Bird – cover photo
• Jeremy Stewart – design
• Tyler Clark Burke – lettering
• Mary Rozzi – photography

Charts

Chart performance for Pleasure

Chart (2017)	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[32]	69
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[33]	13
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[34]	14
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[35]	38
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[36]	7
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[37]	70
French Albums (SNEP)[38]	52
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[39]	12
Irish Albums (IRMA)[40]	41
New Zealand Heatseekers Albums (RMNZ)[41]	3
Portuguese Albums (AFP)[42]	27
Scottish Albums (OCC)[43]	37
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[44]	13
UK Albums (OCC)[45]	48
US Billboard 200[46]	91

References

1. Sodomsky, Sam (14 March 2017). "Feist Returns With New Album Pleasure". Pitchfork. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
2. McNett, Jared (14 March 2017). "Feist's New Album Pleasure Due Out in April". Paste. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
3. "Pleasure by Feist reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
4. "Reviews and Tracks for Pleasure by Feist". Metacritic. Retrieved 27 March 2017.
5. Bermose, Bekki. "Pleasure – Feist". AllMusic. Retrieved 27 March 2017.
6. Adams, Erik (28 April 2017). "Feist's Pleasure is a demanding record expressing demanding emotions". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 9 May 2017.
7. Bernstein, Jonathan (27 April 2017). "Feist reinvents the singer-songwriter album on Pleasure: EW review". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on 27 April 2017. Retrieved 20 April 2019.
8. Murphy, Lauren (27 April 2017). "Feist sticks to the game plan on understated fourth album". The Irish Times. Retrieved 20 April 2019.
9. Doyle, Tom (June 2017). "Feist: Pleasure". Mojo (283): 90.
10. Empire, Kitty (30 April 2017). "Feist: Pleasure review – an atmosphere that really breathes". The Observer. Retrieved 9 May 2017.
11. Mapes, Jillian (27 April 2017). "Feist: Pleasure". Pitchfork. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
12. Aizlewood, John (July 2017). "Feist: Pleasure". Q (373): 107.
13. Dolan, Jon (27 April 2017). "Review: Feist Steps Into the Dark and Dreamlike on 'Pleasure'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 20 April 2019.
14. Anderson, Jason (23 June 2017). "Feist – Pleasure". Uncut. Archived from the original on 23 June 2017. Retrieved 20 April 2019.
15. "The Best Albums of 2017 So Far". The A.V. Club. 29 June 2017. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
16. "Top 25 Albums of 2017 (So Far)". Consequence of Sound. 12 June 2017. p. 5. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
17. "Top 29 Albums of 2017 So Far". Exclaim!. 19 June 2017. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
18. "The 50 Best Albums of 2017 So Far". Spin. 5 June 2017. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
19. "The 50 Best Albums Of 2017 So Far". Stereogum. 6 June 2017. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
20. "Top 50 Albums of 2017 So Far". Under the Radar. 13 July 2017. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
21. "Top 50 Albums of 2017". BrooklynVegan. 22 December 2017. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
22. Adams, Sean (3 December 2017). "Favourite Albums of 2017". Drowned in Sound. Archived from the original on 23 November 2017. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
23. Exclaim Staff (29 November 2017). "Exclaim!'s Top 20 Pop & Rock Albums, 10 to 1". Exclaim. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
24. "The 100 Best Albums of 2017". Noisey. 6 December 2017. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
25. Harvilla, Rob (6 December 2017). "The Best Albums of 2017". The Ringer. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
26. "Top 50 Albums of 2017". The Skinny. 29 November 2017. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
27. "50 Best Albums of 2017". Spin. 18 December 2017. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
28. Stereogum Staff (5 December 2017). "The 50 Best Albums of 2017". Stereogum. Retrieved 6 December 2017.
29. "Uncut's 75 Best Albums of 2017". Uncut. 21 November 2017. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
30. "Top 100 Albums of 2017". Under the Radar. 30 December 2017. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
31. "All The Best Albums Of 2017, Ranked". Uproxx. 4 December 2017. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
32. "ARIA Chart Watch #419". auspOp. 6 May 2017. Archived from the original on 23 September 2020. Retrieved 6 May 2017.
33. "Austriancharts.at – Feist – Pleasure" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
34. "Ultratop.be – Feist – Pleasure" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
35. "Ultratop.be – Feist – Pleasure" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 12 May 2017.
36. "Feist Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 9 May 2017.
37. "Dutchcharts.nl – Feist – Pleasure" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
38. "Lescharts.com – Feist – Pleasure". Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
39. "Offiziellecharts.de – Feist – Pleasure" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
40. "Irish-charts.com – Discography Feist". Hung Medien. Retrieved 6 May 2017.
41. "NZ Heatseekers Albums Chart". Recorded Music NZ. 8 May 2017. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
42. "Portuguesecharts.com – Feist – Pleasure". Hung Medien. Retrieved 16 May 2017.
43. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 6 May 2017.
44. "Swisscharts.com – Feist – Pleasure". Hung Medien. Retrieved 10 May 2017.
45. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 6 May 2017.
46. "Feist Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 9 May 2017.