Opera Multi Steel – A Contresens

The first side of this album opens with "Paulette A La Plage" a spatial thing strung out on flanging 12 string guitar & bass which turns into a medium-paced song with a definite Eastern flavour while remaining strictly Pop music. The guitar sounds really good - makes you wonder why more people don't play this instrument. "Promethee" opens with spoken voice - one close to the mike, the other distant within a huge cavern. The song has a cool, relaxed sound, not unlike a more fragile version of "The Beginning And The End" by OMD, and the vocals prove themselves beyond the mundane. "Les Sens" comes next, opening to a sort of Haitan rhythm which pushes the song along at a good trot, keyboards giant and golden, and the male vocalist sounding not unlike PHIL OAKEY - indeed, the whole song sounds a little like a cleaned-up track from "Dare". "Las", the last track on side one enters on a large organ sound with the vocalists carrying the song over it's first few minutes in a tight harmony - and they manage to restrain themselves from kicking into another Poppy-type track for a change. It ends with Spanish guitar & a distant "for he's a jolly good fellow".
The title track "A Contresens" opens side two with a tight close piece of Pop music which brings to mind the likes of TOM TOM CLUB. It's rather a dense thing for OMS, but they carry it off well, and I might venture this to be the highlight of the album. "Les Grands Orchestres" is a nice complex rhythm with some wonderful gated drums giving the track a weird atmosphere while the other instruments weave themselves around it and the vocalist sings with full force. "J.L.'Aveugle" is a perky piece of Pop music with a Latin American flavour hidden within and a hint of erotica. "Oraisons Minimes" blows in on a storm of white noise. The song itself has a Folk taste to it with plucked & strummed guitars weaving metallic webs across a single beat.

All in all I'd say this is probably a far more mature album than "Cathedrale" is - they obviously are not afraid to expand their sound. A light and entertaining album.

Originally reviewed for Soft Watch.