When Stereolab's Laetitia Sadier released the 2003 LP Socialisme ou Barbarie-- her first as Monade-- the primary difference between it and the sound of her parent band was that the Monade stuff was more raw. Socialisme-- tellingly subtitled The Bedroom Recordings-- wasn't lo-fi but it was stripped down, with a couple instruments doing the work on each track and a minimal amount of layering. Considering how lush Stereolab records can be, Socialisme really did seem like a different animal.
On A Few Steps More, the line between Monade and Stereolab is blurrier. With the addition of permanent members, Monade are now a proper band recording in a professional studio, and the result sounds a hell of a lot like Stereolab. Sadier has one of the most distinctive voices in indie rock, so in one sense the similarity isn't surprising. Catch her in a duet with your granny on bongos and you'll still hear plenty of our beloved Groop. But here so many of the trademark influences and timbres (AM radio horns, Brazilian rhythms, lots of Moog) are presented in essentially the same proportions we've come to expect from late-period Stereolab, and it's a little strange that two different bands can be pointed in almost the exact same direction. It also makes me wonder what Tim Gane-- the person I once imagined to be Stereolab's genius auteur (there's subconscious sexism for you)-- is contributing at this point.
Still, once you get past the initial disorientation, A Few Steps More is a solid record. Sadier's vibrato-less purr (she's singing mostly in French here) is as enticing as ever on "Das Kind", and halfway through she dusts off the high-pitched, far-off wail that shows which layer of Beach Boys harmony caught her attention. "Wash and Dance" has a nice build, transforming from a floaty ballad into a swirl of ringing guitar and driving drums. A few songs are too long, and it gets a bit samey by the end, but the album projects a coherent and well-realized mood: Mid-tempo, mellow, and dreamy, these songs make me glad spring is just around the corner.
"2 Portes, 7 Fenetres", which is basically two songs in one, is enjoyable but illustrates the problem with this record. Starting out as a dirge that gives Sadier a chance to demonstrate her trombone playing, "2 Portes" slides into a crisp bossa nova beat with a fat Moog line and harmony vocals by Marie Merlet. Hearing Merlet's husky, unfamiliar voice against Sadier reminds me how cool it would be for her to challenge herself and immerse her talent in something unfamiliar. The head of steam built by years of good Stereolab records is considerable, but A Few Steps More still feels like the work of someone who's coasting.
