The last we heard from a female Canadian singer-songwriter, she was singing angry songs about Joey Gladstone and ruining an entire generation's concept of irony.

But before Alanis Morissette sold a bazillion records, there was Joni Mitchell, who was almost American anyway. Mitchell had one of the greatest singing voices of any female musician ever, and she also happened to be a legendary lyricist. She wrote poetry in song form. She was the female Bob Dylan in that regard. There hasn't been a single artist to scrape the surface of Mitchell's peaks since she stopped making music so long ago.

But now, there's a new Canadian singer-songwriter with a voice that rivals Mitchell's and lyrics that are just as poetic. Her name is Leslie Feist (stage name Feist, sort of like Bond -- James Bond), and her new album, The Reminder, the third original release of her solo career, is the closest thing to Joni Mitchell since sliced bread. Or something like that.

Of course, times have changed. Don't expect a hippie songstress. Punk happened, and then Liz Phair changed the way women write songs. Feist falls somewhere in the mix of all of those factors.

But before she turns herself into the modern Mitchell, Feist goes anachronistic with the album opener, "So Sorry." Her voice has the classic feel of Billie Holiday's (calm down; she's no Billie Holiday), but there's a mix of tambourines and acoustic guitars that make it coffee shop-esque. There's also a vibraphone in the background giving the song a spacey feel. It's like a Brian Wilson production of an old standard, which gives it the feeling of both modernity and timelessness.

The album features its share of flashy, poppy numbers, such as the rollicking "I Feel It All" and "My Moon My Man," but at some moment during "The Park," everything becomes intensely personal. Her voice is otherworldly and her lyrics are like a Monet. Feist is at her best when she's personal, and throughout The Reminder, it's like she's sitting in a room alone with the listeners, singing to them and only them.

The album has a very distinct feel and a very distinct theme, but within the personal reflection of the album, there are also many different styles.

Feist shifts from folk to jazz to blues to rock to pop from song to song, and even within songs there's no uniformity. She always keeps the audience on its toes, but provides comfort in the overarching message of the album.

The Reminder's message extends the personal feel and its springtime atmosphere comes at the perfect time of the year. It's an album about growing up and moving on. It's about how things can change instantaneously, for better or for worse.

But it's an optimistic album -- no matter how things change, nothing is ever as bad as it might seem. Dissatisfaction with relationships still leaves room for hope; disappointment with how things were in the past still leaves room for dreams of the future.

At the same time, there's this theme about the indelibility of the past; the past has shaped us in the present, and we can't change that. But that's not necessarily a bad thing.

In "1234," Feist gets retrospective about the teenage boys who broke her heart and how they made her who she is today. But no matter what the endings of those relationships were, they still had their good times.

Given the breadth of styles Feist showcases and the thematic perfection of the album, Feist has created an instant classic with The Reminder.

It's not quite Joni Mitchell yet, but it's not far off.

Grade: A