Discover Feist’s pleasure on your own terms

FEIST “PLEASURE” (UNIVERSAL)

“That’s what we’re here for! Pleasure!” That’s a strange lyric, song title and album title considering the songs Feist is offering on her fifth album. The songwriter has always been a merchant of melancholy, but here she is audibly emerging from a thick fog, something that she herself terms “a dark night of the soul” — a cliché uncharacteristic of the subtle poetry that informs the rest of the album (and the rest of her discography).

Gone are the many collaborators and instrumentalists: this is a solitary journey consisting of just the guitarist and her old friend Mocky on drums, with longtime engineer Renaud Letang rounding out what Feist calls this albums “peer-o-mid.” The sound is decidedly sparse, as emotionally bare as the lyrics. Such is her skill as a writer that none of it seems particularly personal; she spares us the gory details and tells us, “A man is not his song / and I am not a story.”

Musically, it’s easier to appreciate what “Pleasure” represents rather than appreciating the album itself — not unlike PJ Harvey’s “White Chalk,” or Thom Yorke’s “The Eraser”; one can applaud Feist’s bravery without loving the actual music. It’s best, of course, to leave expectations at the door and discover “Pleasure” on your own terms.

Stream: “Pleasure,” “Get Not High Get Not Low,” “Any Party”

SYLVAN ESSO “WHAT NOW” (LOMA VISTA/UNIVERSAL)

Amelia Meath was once a backup singer for Feist, as part of Meath’s vocal group Mountain Man, on the tour for 2011’s “Metals.” Shortly after, however, Meath formed this electronic duo with Nick Sanborn and landed a word-of-mouth underground hit with “Coffee,” on which Meath’s warm and compelling, decidedly un-AutoTuned vocals contrasted with the electronic textures and beats. Constant touring turned them into festival favourites, and landed them a record deal.

Because they didn’t play the pop game to get to where they are, it’s not surprising to hear their new single taunting the music industry, with the chorus “slave to the radio.” It is a bit weird, however, that “Radio” sounds exactly like a radio hit, just a few steps removed from the Katy Perrys of the world. This both works for and against the band: some of their originality has been stripped away, but certainly not all. Like Lorde, Sylvan Esso has managed to maintain many of their idiosyncrasies as they move closer to the mainstream.

Stream: “Radio,” “Die Young,” “Slack Jaw”

COLIN STETSON “ALL THIS I DO FOR GLORY” (KARTEL)

Colin Stetson does one thing and he does it very, very well. He makes solo saxophone records, recorded live, with no overdubs, using a variety of microphone techniques that amplify the sound of his fingers hitting the keys; he also manages to somehow intone independent melodies while playing arpeggiated melodies. In short, Stetson takes a nose-to-tail approach to his instrument.

It’s incredibly impressive — once. Stetson runs the serious risk of being a onetrick pony, of being known for just that one thing — like, say “continuous music” pianist Lubomyr Melnyk, or Philip Glass. Or, for that matter, the Ramones.

But here’s the thing — he keeps getting better. Not in his technique, necessarily, which was astounding to begin with, but in the role of dynamics in his composition and his melodies. Part of that might be a result of his album-length collaboration with his partner, Sarah Neufeld, or “Sorrow,” his 2016 interpretation of Gorecki’s “Third Symphony,” where his role was of arranger rather than featured instrumentalist. Whatever the reason, “All This I Do For Glory” is easily the most accessible, if not necessarily the best, album of Stetson’s career of bringing avant-garde music to a larger audience.

Stream: “All This I Do For Glory,” “Like Wolves on the Fold,” “The Lure of the Mine”