Tene, La
Melnetta/tardive
With Melnetta/Tardive, La Tène continue the constant transformation that has defined the band's journey. Now expanded to six musicians, the Franco-Swiss group return with their sixth album and arguably their rockiest record to date, without abandoning what makes their music so distinctive: long pieces built around simple motifs, evolving through gradual shifts and repetition until they reach an almost hypnotic intensity. Around the core of Cyril Bondi on drums and d'incise on harmonium and electronics, Jérémie Sauvage on bass, Jacques Puech and Louis Jacques on cabrettes and bagpipes, and Guilhem Lacroux on electric guitar give this new incarnation of La Tène a new breadth and power. Founding member Alexis Degrenier took part in the composition of the album but, for the first time, does not perform on the recording. The result of several years of touring and collective work, Melnetta/Tardive was developed during writing sessions at Le Gamounet, near Clermont-Ferrand, before being recorded at ImagO studios with Étienne Foyer. Across its two extended pieces, La Tène push their language further, somewhere between repetition, traditional music, electronics and rock energy. Rigorous and physical, sombre yet joyful, the music resists imposing its own images, leaving space for listeners to project their own.