Laetitia Sadier – Rooting For Love

Duophonic Super 45s / Drag City

Laetitia Sadier‘s actual solo career releases, either as Monade or under her own name, have been relatively thin on the ground and although her appearances with other artists have been fairly numerous, it is her solo work that we yearn for.

Rooting For Love follows not very hot on the heels of the Source Ensemble album from 2017; but I guess after the big push that the Stereolab revival caused, it is no great surprise that seven years have elapsed between the two. Surrounding herself with welcome friends and collaborators including violinist Agathe Max, producer Hannes Plattmeier and bassist Xavi Muñoz, the carefully collated crowd allow full rein to Laetitia’s ideas.

It must be difficult coming from a group with such a defined identity as Stereolab. Even now, fifteen years after the last recorded music, they cast a long shadow, and Laetitia’s evocative voice and hopeful yet pragmatic lyrics were an enormous part of that. The great thing though about Rooting For Love is that although hints of Stereolab filter through, generally thanks to the profusion of talent assembled and the desire to push on to pastures new, this album stands really firmly on its own feet. With seven of the tracks here sung in English, clearly this is still a very comfortable situation for her; but the international feel is inescapable and you can almost sense the striving by Laetitia to use music as a unifying force.

With all ten songs written by Laetitia and co-produced with Hannes, her control is absolute; but the generosity allowed to the assembled players makes for some very varied results, often shot through with familiar motifs, just subtle enough to ring in the memory. The melancholy organ and the bass throb of opener “Who + What?”, allied to the profundity of the words, give you no mistake as to who this is, the rhythm beguiling and unsettling in equal measure; but it seems that with each release, her voice only improves.

The addition of a choir gives a deep, sonorous backing to some of the tracks and although there are refractions of Stereolab, the purity of the voice and the timelessness of the musical settings move us further south into sunnier climes; “Proteiformunite” moves as if adrift before being sucked into an unexpected whirlwind, while “Une Autre Attente” slips away on a motorik groove which is interspersed with moments of stasis, as if Laetitia is unwilling to be lulled into traps. The acoustic guitar that underpins most of the tracks here, a disjointed piano break or shimmering synth sounds; they are all elements that make us think twice before jumping to conclusions.

There is nearly always a bit of a groove and the subtlety of the acoustic guitar is lovely. Harmony vocals are breezy and evoke a warmth for which we all yearn; but as ever, there is a message here for all of us and even as we feel the synths shimmer we know we must listen to what Laetitia has to say. At some point in the past and in a perfectly realised circle, Laetitia lent words to those precursors of European modernism Aksak Maboul and in return, she has borrowed words from Véronique Vincent for the torrid “Don’t Forget You’re Mine”. Exhortations and frustrations abound and the atmosphere is palpable.

Other lovely additions, like Hanne’s swinging vibes on “Panser l’Inacceptable” and Marie Merlet‘s flute and Nina‘s childlike vocals on “The Inner Smile” only help to push us further into uncharted waters. In fact, the Latin freak-out which bursts out of the folky flounce of this song is a real pleasure, even as the organ makes a supreme effort to keep things on track.

Still, the words are magical and over an oddly Pram-like dreamy sway in “La Nageuse Nue”, the heart is likened to a gold mine, expressing the effort required to extract our inner goodness. The Pram-like elements can’t help but make me think of Monade and the promise that the initial Rosie Cuckston / Laetitia collaboration held. In my romantic mind, Laetitia is continuing the work alone that Rosie turned her back on, and with this raft of great collaborators the results are lovely.

The final track is an organ led-awakening which echoes and scintillates while the words dance among the cracks suspended in space. Horns mass amidst a synth drone and her voice attains an ethereal quality not yet heard. With this unexpected direction and with so much more to give, the album comes to an abrupt halt and we are bereft.

Rooting For Love is a really welcome return for Laetitia Sadier and one that shows her willingness to merge experimentation with familiarity has lost none of its sparkle and for that we should be grateful.

-Mr Olivetti-