Clwb Ifor Bach, Cardiff
Mon 12 Nov
words NOEL GARDNER
★★★☆☆
As Laetitia Sadier acknowledges early on in her trio’s set, this is the first time she’s performed in Cardiff for roughly a decade. The last appearance was upstairs in this venue with Stereolab, the band she sang lead vocals for from 1990 until the proverbial ‘indefinite hiatus’ three years ago. The two albums she’s released since then have been less obviously experimental than Stereolab, but maintain their/her love of niche, sophisticated retro pop, and place her vocals (still strongly French-accented after more than 20 years in the UK) pointedly upfront. Given that this tour comes nearly five months after Silencio!, the second LP, she presumably has priorities outside of its promotion. This does mean there are only about 50 people in attendance, a fraction of the crowd Stereolab pulled in the late 90s, but hey.
After an opening set from Pen Pastwn – Richard James, Gareth Bonello and Andy Fung playing quasi-folk which differs from their electric mode, but is enjoyable overall – tour support Jens Bosteen charms the audience, despite being from Toulouse and having no British profile. Something like an East Village folkie with a touch of Smog and a loop pedal, he would likely be welcome back in Cardiff. Sadier and her two cohorts (the drummer, I’m compelled to mention, is wearing a black polo neck) take the stage cheerfully and open on a familiar note. The Rule Of The Game has the blissful chime of old Stereolab number Flourescences, thus catnip in a room seemingly containing no-one under 30.
Sadier remains an expert writer of melodies, and conjuror of lyrics from phrases that, on paper, seem drily literary or academic. Auscultation To The Nation and the Chuck D-ishly titled There’s A Price To Pay For Freedom (And It Isn’t Security) demonstrate that she still leans to the political left, too. Silent Spot pays tribute to the late Trish Keenan of Broadcast, who were Stereolab’s peers of sorts, and references their singular sound without it feeling parodic or unseemly. What doesn’t really happen is rocking out – which Stereolab used to do in spades, as much as their detractors thought them overly mannered. “From rock to bossa nova!” beams the singer, introducing Find Me The Pulse Of The Universe; it’s self-deprecating, I think, but it does feel like she’s relying on old, comfortable templates a little too much.
Not exactly a gamechanger of a gig, but nothing to lose your hair about, really: there is much camaraderie, it’s cheering to see an indie-biz veteran performing with no pressure, and the late-teen version of me would have been shamefully thrilled to be able to stand this close to Laetitia Sadier.