Grade: C+

Canadian songstress Feist returns with her first album since 2007 with the stripped down “Metals.”

“Metals” features an atmospheric but still sound, letting her sultry vocals take center stage. The indie rocker’s latest is noticeably slower than her most famed works such as “Mushaboom” and “1234.”

The mood on “Metals” is also very somber, with heartbreaking tracks like opener “The Bad in Each Other” and “Comfort Me.” These two tracks are among the best on the record and showcase Feist’s songwriting ability, as she writes about dysfunctional relationships.

The album starts off very strong with the aforementioned opener, the dark “Graveyard” and the bluesy lead-single, “How Come You Never Go There.”

But the album starts to drag in the middle with tracks like “Circle Married the Line,” “Bittersweet Melodies” and “Anti-Pioneer.” These slow-driven tracks aren’t necessarily bad songs by any means, but these tracks in a row stall the album’s momentum.

The album, which is under 50 minutes, seems much longer with these tracks in the middle. This results in the album having a very uneven feel, and at some points it can be downright boring.

The album manages to regain steam by closing with two of the album’s best tracks: “Comfort Me” and “Get it Wrong, Get it Right.”

While “Metals” certainly isn’t Feist’s best work, it is a welcomed addition to her already pretty strong catalog.