Feist Opens Up About Leaving Arcade Fire Tour Amid Win Butler Allegations: ‘It Was Deeply Difficult’

etcanada.com:

Feist has faced hard choices in the last year. In September, the Canadian artist penned a statement announcing she was departing Arcade Fire’s tour after allegations of sexual misconduct against frontman Win Butler. READ MORE: Feist Exits Arcade Fire Tour Amid Sexual Misconduct Allegations Against Frontman Win Butler This week, in an interview with The Irish Times, Feist opened up about coming to the decision after playing as opener on the first two dates of the tour amid the scandal. “I was having an out-of-body experience,” she said. “Not to mention, I had brought all of these new songs.

I thought, ‘Okay, maybe I’ll go do this tour and workshop how to play these songs in a bigger context.’” She continued, “It took me until the second show where all of the practical discomfort of having to dismantle this crazy machine and fold it back up and lose what I had invested in being there [on tour].… The whole thing was made so clear to me.

I couldn’t continue.” READ MORE: Feist Debuts Three New Songs From First Album In 6 Years Feist explained that she finally realized the impossibility of continuing on with the tour while having to answer questions about the allegations against Butler. “It was like, actually, no… ‘I can’t avoid my responsibility here.’ Not to mention every word that came out of my mouth, I was hearing through an ear that wasn’t my own,” she recalled. “I was hearing how twisted and skewed… In the context they were in, the songs weren’t safe.

And neither was I.… It was deeply difficult.” Butler has denied the allegations against him, maintaining that all his interactions with his accusers were consensual.