Principia＜Green Vinyl＞

French combo En Attendant Ana made a significant creative leap between their scrappy but charming 2018 full-length debut and 2020s excellent Julliet. With each release, the Parisians have shown a further refinement of their melodic indie pop and post-punk blend, and 2023s Principia is no different. The progression of singer, guitarist, and primary songwriter Margaux Bouchaudon has been a graceful upward curve of poignancy and nuance that offsets the bands sharp attack. With their chiming guitars, vintage organs, and motorik rhythms, En Attendant Ana feel like generational heirs to Stereolabs artful legacy, but Bouchaudons sweet, airy vocals and almost reluctant vulnerability help break through a sense of cool that might otherwise keep them at arms length. The songs on Principia are at once more immediate and casual than earlier releases, as if the band has found its most confident groove. The bouncing pop lilt of "Black Morning" and the taut rhythms of "The Cut Off" reveal some of the groups best work to date, but its the surprisingly emotional "Wonder" that breaks new ground for En Attendant Ana. Delivered in two distinct sections, the songs introspective front portion soon segues into a quietly insistent beat over which Bouchaudon questions her very nature, singing "Im a good human being, my mama said, and I hope shes right." Its an oddly affecting statement that when repeated over the songs ecstatic crescendo takes on dueling layers of joy and desperation. Principia is a diverse and tightly crafted LP from a band who seem to have come fully into their own skin. ~ Timothy Monger