Prior to this record,
Kim had recorded music in which he played numerous instruments and sampled from several genres.
Metalic Sane, however, is just his voice and acoustic guitar (though it sounds like there's an occasional tentative female backup), a setup that's well-suited for his sort of intimate folk-pop/rock. The Frenchman sings entirely in English on this record, sounding something like a whispery
Ray Davies with a French accent. While this might be a touch too lo-fi and homespun to get widespread media kudos, it's quite nice, haunting, late-night music that's pop and rock in melodic and lyrical orientation, but folk in its instrumentation. The sad melodies are still more impressive than the more rudimentary and meandering lyrics, but there's a winsome quality to his heartbreak-tinged singing. It will likely be satisfying to many looking for a more modern equivalent not just to
Ray Davies unplugged, but also to similar, offbeat folky rock minstrels like
Syd Barrett, though
Kim's not nearly as weird as
Barrett.