Delicate, playful post-post-rock

Half an apocalypse has passed since the last album by the strangely named trio from Lausanne. During these eleven years, the tastes of Honey for Petzi have obviously undergone a comprehensive revision. Back then, Sami Benhadj Djilali, Philippe Oberson and Christian Pahud still relied entirely on the power of a conventional line-up of guitar, bass, drums and three voices. They used this to knit post-rock sound patterns that were peppered with petard-like syncopations and intricate jumps and pleased the pioneering producer Steve Albini from Chicago so much that he produced an album for them (Heal All Monsters, 2001). The band released eight LPs in the course of their first creative phase and achieved international fame.

The first track on their joyful comeback album shows that Honey for Petzi's minds have been fermenting in the years of silence. Ecoute takes a few old elements - rhythmic feints, repetitive guitar patterns - and gives them a completely new sound palette. The conventional drums are now joined by mbira-like percussion, which was probably generated by a computer, and other "prepared" sounds can also be made out. The guitar has clearly been fitted with softer strings than in the past, and the feisty bass has a melody-carrying function. Added to this is a relaxed vocal melody in unusually high registers, and even more unusual for the Petzis: they sing in French.

The warmth of the detailed production of Ecoute is typical of the conciliatory, even cheerful mood of the subsequent tracks. Neither the new, electronic ingredients nor the significantly less jagged pace detract from the band's traditional qualities or even their dynamics - on the contrary: the finely spun complexity of the patterns now comes into its own. "We picked up where we left off with General Thoughts and Tastes stopped," reads the PR text. "It was an album that already contained more 'pop' formats than we had done before." If by "pop" you mean smart, light-footed, electronic bands like Hot Chip, then fine. Otherwise Observations + Descriptions in all its dazzling diversity of ideas is miles away from the usual pop schemes. It has many highlights, perhaps the dreamy Infini with its spherical guitar patterns. Wonderful.

Honey for Petzi: Observations + Descriptions. Two Gentlemen TWOGTL 093