The Comfort Of A Zone

En Attendent Ana “Same Old Story”

I was trying to figure out exactly why Le Attendent Ana reminds me of Stereolab despite not actually playing music much like anything Stereolab ever produced. I think it comes down to the French accented vocals and their approach to harmony, which are not far off from how Laetitia Sadier and Mary Hansen sang together in the band’s middle period. Much like Sadier, Margaux Bouchaudon sings with a tone that seems lightly authoritative, sharply erudite, somewhat wry, and sometimes surprisingly warm. They both have a gift for making harshly critical lyrics land in a way that seem sensitive to how they may be received yet are not diluted by a front of false kindness. “Same Old Story” is a tightly wound but very groovy song, more peevish in tone than angry, but not so much that it gets in the way of the music’s more fun and playful qualities. The tone is just ambiguous enough that you could take this as a break up song, a self-directed song about frustration, or kind of a mean flirt.

Buy it from Bandcamp.