LAETITIA SADIER
SILENCIO
(DRAG CITY)

In her 20 years as the lead singer of Stereolab, Laetitia Sadier has dependably imparted a vital, earthy humanity to her band's sterile, mechanized productions.

In turn, on Silencio, her newest full-length, Sadier forgoes Stereolab's rigid aura, in favor of a warmer, airier sound, more relaxed in approach, and endearing in its lack of cohesion.

Jumping between sun-kissed bossa nova tributes ("Moi Sans Zach"), psych-lounge numbers a la Air ("There is a Price to Pay for Freedom"), and breezy, Yo La Tengo-ish pop tunes ("Auscultation to the Nation"), Silencio allows Sadier's various musical influences to breathe and linger, without being upstaged by the motorik propulsion, and Jetsons kitsch, of the Stereolab formula. An ideal sunny-day-in-the-Mission-with-headphones record.