With a career history that includes stints with Peaches, Broken Social Scene and Kings of Convenience, Canada's Lesley Feist brings uncommon breadth and individuality to the swoony indie lounge pop of her U.S. debut. Her hushed croon evokes the jazz tingle of Peggy Lee and her melodicism hearkens back to Tin Pan Alley, but Feist proves she's a modern gal with a sparse yet varied sound that draws from chamber pop, chill-out, postmodern folk, Burt Bacharach and beyond. Feist's own songs on the disc's first half segue imperceptibly into a string of well-chosen cover tunes that confirm her nuanced good taste, particularly as she gently renders Ron Sexsmith's "Secret Heart" and the Bee Gees' "Love You Inside Out" as if they were penned by the same lovesick soul: herself.

“All Along the Watchtower”

Jimi Hendrix got hold of Bob Dylan's early John Wesley Harding tapes and in late 1967 recorded a version of "All Along the Watchtower" with the Experience in London. Dissatisfied with that first development, Hendrix brought those tapes with him to New York in early 1968 when he began work on Electric Ladyland. Eddie Kramer, Hendrix's engineer at the time, told Rolling Stone that Hendrix "was still looked upon by his basically white audience as the mammoth black guitar hero. There was a constant fight within him to expand himself." Hendrix's successful take on Dylan's work has long been recognized by the songwriter. "I liked Jimi Hendrix's record of this and ever since he died I've been doing it that way," Dylan wrote in the liner notes to his Biograph box set. "Strange how when I sing it, I always feel it's a tribute to him in some kind of way."