After taking a long break from recording,
Fabienne Delsol returns with another light-hearted and snappy album that combines the hookiness of the beat group boom, the drama of vintage French pop, and the murky swirl of psychedelia. Her previous solo albums were helmed by
Liam Watson at his famed Toerag studio; this time around
Delsol takes half the wheel, with the studio's engineer
Luke Oldfield also steering. They get a sound that's a little less reverb coated and a bit snappier, bringing
Delsol's sound a little closer to the modern era. Not close enough to be be bland or slick; just enough to make the album sound less like a long-lost curio. As before, the songs are split between newly written tracks and covers of decades-old obscurities, both sung by
Delsol in her sophisticated style. The new songs were penned by
Delsol's bassist and former member of
the Bees,
Thomas Gardner, and they sound like dusty oldies brought back to shimmering life. The rippling freakbeat rocker "Ladder" has an enchanting melody, lots of sticky vocal hooks, and is one of the album's highlights. His "So Many Could Not" is another high point, a moodily melancholy beat group ballad that features some amazing Mellotron work from
Carwyn Ellis, whose magical touch on a variety of keys helps fill out the arrangements.