CIA Debutante - Trespass LP

On the latest missive from the French/Oz duo CIA Debutante, the murky squall of past dispatches is slowly parting to reveal the substructures behind it. Most evidently, this LP sounds like the most melodic recording of the duo released to date. Tom Lax in the liner notes compares this to a Frankenstein’s monster-style Roxy Music, and it’s not an entirely misleading statement (although don’t despair, still a couple of Dead C-esque guitar freakouts to keep the aurally chaotic happy).

Paul Bonnet seems to be juggling plates here, weaving the usual motorik beats with pulsing synths, a dense layer of atmospherics, a droning clarinet (is this woodwind in vogue at the moment or what??) and these occasional lead lines that seem to get caught in your head.

Even Nathan Roche occupies the most melodic space I can recall outside of his rock music (and this is a guy that can string together a few notes if I’ve heard it, surely I’m not the one who’s had the riff to Call Back stuck in my head for over a decade now). His vocals still bend and shift in all manner of ways, from a robotic recitation, to a softly French-accented English, to a Mark E. Smithian yelp or even a dry Melchiorian bark. While he doesn’t necessarily bellow out a tune, it does sound like a bit of talk-singing entering the fold here! But even the words have a melodic quality embedded in them. Case in point, perhaps my favourite rhyme all year “Hieronymus Bosch / Macintosh” – a music unto itself!

Looking forward to their Avalon in the coming years!
–Mitch