omertà | collection particulière @ aquarium drunkard

Omertà is comprised of five musicians from a handful of projects that line the interior of France’s experimental underground, notably La Société Étrange, releasing limited edition pressings on labels like Standard In-Fi, Desastre, and La Novià. Each of the members, and their associated groups, possess krautrock’s stealthy octave climbing and open feel, dub’s intimate incorporation of analog electronics and generally hazy air, and a bit of post-punk’s willingness to try anything out.

While Collection Particulière is a record from a cohesive collective, this is no doubt Florence Giroud’s band. She wrangled the cast together and played the lead as the sole singer on their self-titled debut, and now on their second album, Collection Particulière. On the brambly eponymous effort from 2017, Giroud and Omertà entertained their more avant-garde curiosities, whereas Collection captures the band figuring out what worked best from those experiments, piecing it all together with loose grooves to create attractive and kinetic songs.

Giroud’s vocal delivery is collected, slipping from spoken passages to articulate, soft melodies with a conversational ease that recalls Histoire de Melody Nelson. Even with a bare knowledge of French, Giroud’s variation in affectation, attitude, and emphasis is captivating. Jonathan Grandcollot replaces Mathieu Tillyon drums for Collection Particulière, adding a light and consistent backbone, while Romain Hervault and Jérémie Sauvage’s bass is prominent in the mix, driving everything with firm, repetitive but active basslines. Tactile synths from Romain de Ferron provide melodic volleys and lead-ins, filling in with atmospheric swells. Taken as a whole, each track is an exercise that sees all parts settling into a groove, gaining the elastic energy of Ege Bamyasi or some of the less proggy albums on Silence Records.