Area Silenzio＜限定盤/Colored Vinyl＞

French group Eat-Girls formed when Amelie Guillon and Elisa Artero started writing songs together while stuck in their flat during the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020. Maxence Mesnier, who mastered Eat-Girls self-issued debut EP, joined as the groups third member when they began performing live. A few years later, they surfaced on Hamburg-based label Bureau B with Area Silenzio, their full-length debut. Like their earlier material, this album was self-recorded, and the group have taken their time to develop a murky, otherworldly sound. From the beginning, theyve made sparse, eerie songs with skeletal drum programming, stark keyboards, and dead-eyed vocals, occasionally flaring up into noisier, more energized moments. Here, their music feels detached and zombie-like. "On a Crooked Swing" opens the album with trudging drum machine beats that end up becoming more detailed than expected, while the trios vocals blur into a ghostly moan. Sometimes their songs will start off as dirges, then eventually reach a tense section, or start to derail with unanticipated bursts or dubby effects. "Canine" is a playful minimal-wave sing-along, while "A Kin" has a driving post-punk rhythm and rushes of pulsating synths, eventually boosted by rapidly thumping kick drums. The stripped-down and emotionally direct "Saints Discards" is the albums most straightforward pop song, an alienated yet stirring reflection on old friendships. The buzzing, minimalist synth gem "Para los Pies Cansados" is filled with gleeful group harmonies, while "Trauschaft" is both furious and funky, with urgent beats and a killer bassline. Eat-Girls seem curiously spaced out, but theyve clearly honed their particular style of disconnection, and the highlights of their debut are riveting. ~ Paul Simpson