Blonde Redhead's
Melodie Citronique reworks three songs from its excellent album
Melody of Certain Damaged Lemons and adds two songs that highlight the group's multicultural, multilingual approach. "En Particulier" is a straightforward French translation of
Lemons' dreamy "In Particular"; "Odiata Per le Sue Virtu" is "Hated Because of Great Qualities" with an Italian makeover. "Four Damaged Lemons," a remix of "For the Damaged," makes the song even more fragile and delicately lovely by adding a looped piano, brittle acoustic guitar, backwards sound effects, and chiming keyboards. The bouncy, sing-song "Chi É E Non É" sounds a bit like one of
the Pixies' poppier moments sung in Italian, while the version of
Serge Gainsbourg's "Slogan" suggests that his slinky, sensual style has become almost as big an influence on
Blonde Redhead's sound as
Sonic Youth was previously. Though it isn't quite as big a step forward for the group as
Melody of Certain Damaged Lemons,
Melodie Citronique is an enjoyable companion piece to that album, as well as a further exploration of the group's softer side. ~ Heather Phares