Laetitia Sadier
Silencio
Drag City
6.5

Laetitia Sadier, former lead singer of Stereolab, is back with another soft solo album Silencio. While it is wonderfully crafted with variety and interesting concepts, Silencio quietly makes its way to shelves as more of a background album instead of a well sought out CD.

Silencio is, in a musical sense, a very beautiful album. The variety of styles each song encompasses – the latin-beat of “Find Me the Pulse of the Universe” rests well in contradiction to the melancholy-surf-rock influenced “Auscultation to the Nation” – fit together like a colorful puzzle, laced gracefully by Sadir’s deep and melodic voice.

Each song has its own personality; some are more psychedelic and profound than others, like “There is a Price to pay for Freedom (and it isn’t Security),” which opens to a synthesizer tune very reminiscent of Genesis; others are more lighthearted and carefree, for example “Moi Sans Zach,” which feels more romantic with the light acoustic guitar and clavas in the background paired with her French lyrics.

However, despite the beauty of the music, the album seems unoriginal. Sadier has a particular style of singing and composing that works well for her audience; if you are a fan of Stereolab, this CD will be right up your alley. But that lack of progress, a constant focus on the same without a lot of room for growth, is an opportunity missed for her solo career. Silencio, compared to other albums in the same sort of genre, doesn’t really stand out. To an outsider, the CD sounds like an Of Montreal album featuring Nico as a singer, something that isn’t shunned or discouraged but doesn’t make a strong enough impression.

Perhaps if the album came out later in the year, when the season calls for more self-reflection and more soft tunes, Silencio would be more grabbing. But for now, I’m going to put it on the shelf until I need some grooves to soothe my soul to.

Silencio is out July 24th.

By Alex Marga