I first heard “Mushaboom,” the breakout song from her first album “Let It Die” (2004), during my brief stint as summer sales assistant at Restoration Hardware. I may have been organizing mocha-scented candles; I may have been tri-folding 200 plush towels made from vegetable-dyed Turkish cotton: Frankly, I try not to remember.

But I do remember that “Mushaboom,” a lilting ditty about a woman looking forward to buying her first home, seemed to fit right in to the genteel, decidedly un-Feisty atmosphere of the store. And I have unfairly held it against her ever since.

That is, until I heard “The Reminder,” Feist’s splendid second album, which came out this week.

Let’s begin with her voice. Even if you’re are one of the 12 people who hasn’t heard “Mushaboom” at a store or coffee shop, you’ll also recognize it if you’re a fan of Broken Social Scene, the Canadian super-group to which Feist, a.k.a. Leslie Feist of Toronto, is a frequent contributor.

It’s a very distinctive voice. Most of the time, it has the beautifully muffled quality of a French horn or a muted trumpet. Smooth as silk. Every once and a while, however, she pops the cork on that sucker to release a burst of effervescent sound that sparkles like good champagne. It’s quite a contrast, and it seems to be her trademark.

Listen, for example, to the climax of the “1 2 3 4,” the first single off “The Reminder.” For the first half of the song, she sings in a honeyed, slightly mocking voice about someone who seems to have sold out: “1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9 or 10 / Money can’t buy you back the love that you had then.” Then, at the end of the second chorus, she belts out to an explosion of horns, “You know who you are!” I don’t know whether it’s an accusation or a satire of self-help advice, but the line never fails to give me a chill.

Indeed, Feist’s tiny frame seems to contain many instruments. On “My Moon, My Man,” a standout track with a killer piano baseline, she electronically blends a sample of her voice in a way that sounds like the piping of clarinets.

One of the most remarkable things about “The Reminder” is its range. There’s something for everyone here, folks. On “The Park,” a wistful melody about lost love is overlaid with sounds of chirping birds. “Brandy Alexander” is a traditional but well-executed pop ballad, while “Honey, Honey” is clearly influenced by the sultriness of 1970s soul. Last but not least, “Sea Lion Woman” is a truly Feist-y rendition of a Nina Simone classic about a sexy, back-stabbing adultress.

The only tracks I didn’t like as much were the ones that reminded me of Norah Jones or some similar variety of “adult contemporary” lounge music. (Come to think of it, that’s the kind of music they play in Restoration Hardware...) The first track, “So Sorry,” features an unfortunate salt-shaker beat and singers in the background crooning, “Oooh, ooooh!”

It’s a great album, however, up there with the best of the year. The songs are subtle but unpretentious fun. Even if you don’t rush out and buy it today, at least go to YouTube and check out the video for “1 2 3 4,” which features awesome spiral camerawork and what can only be described as silly, multi-colored dancing in a warehouse. And Ms. Feist ain’t so bad to look at, either.

All in all, it’s enough to make you agree with the anonymous poster on YouTube who wrote: “may the reviewer of [Rolling Stone magazine] get hit by a truck delivering her cds to a local sam goody for only giving her 3 stars.”