Laetitia Sadier has always sung so beautifully that she has been able to slip uncompromising political messages in between the groovy 60s ‘ba-ba-da’ backing refrains almost without us noticing.
This time, in a duet with Hot Chip’s Alexis Taylor on Love Captive, she sings: ‘We are made to love but not to fall in love,’ while Tortoise’s Rob Mazurek plays some finely etched cornet. She reckons that love has to be reinvented. Good luck with that. The core ensemble of guitarist Nina Savary, bass guitarist Xavi Muñoz and Emmanuel Mario on drums play material more varied in mood than Stereolab and more outgoing than Monade. It’s structurally fluid, twisting and turning with a technicolor array of synths and electronics, particularly on Sacred Project, with dazzling vocal arrangements that were originally conceived as string parts. Undying Love For Humanity rides out on percussion, some sweet guitar and accordion-like keyboards – it’s Françoise Hardy meets Steve Reich. Psychology Active (Finding You) runs through slow verses with slide guitar, then accelerates into choruses as Sadier takes a wry dig at modern solipsism, before the song glides off into ethereal vocals and anomalously farty synth.
