Kat Onoma's album begins on an apocalyptic note, Burger's vocals assuming a dramatic tone of doom and gloom as he asks Que sera votre vie quand/Le silence entre les sons se remplira de cris?/Que sera votre vie quand/Une heure durera de sept à huit minutes?" (What will life be like/ When the silence between the sounds is filled with cries/ What will life be like/ When an hour lasts seven to eight minutes?")

Fortunately, besides predicting catastrophes and full-scale cataclysms the last book of the New Testament also contains a few poetic gems, so Que sera votre vie gets to end on a more serene note. Squealing guitars and pounding electronic drums are balanced by a softer string quartet and beautiful but disturbing lyrics from Pierre Alféri (who drops his habitual pseudonym of Thomas Lago and signs Kat Onoma's songs under his own name for once). Meanwhile, Burger's powerful vocals pull these disparate musical elements together, sounding as compelling and haunting as ever.
Burger's return to the group marks the start of a new era for Kat Onoma. In fact, the lead singer went off and worked on his own solo projects (Meteor Show, L’Homme usé and Welche) for four years, as did guitarist Philippe Poirier (Qui donne les coups). "After the release of our double live album Happy Birthday, Burger explains, " we made a collective decision to put the group on hold. At the time we could never possibly have imagined Kat Onoma would remain on hold for four years!"

Burger and Poirier's individual experiences appear to have injected a new verve and vitality into Kat Onoma. Indeed, on their new album the group branch out and experiment with innovative new sounds, incorporating elements of electronic music, for instance (a style that has become a prominent feature in Burger's solo work). One of the most interesting musical statements on Kat Onoma, however, was the group's decision to work with UK producer Ian Caple. Famous for his avant-garde production work with British acts such as trip hop star Tricky and The Tindersticks, Caple has added a radical new edge to Kat Onoma's sound. He also introduced a few changes to the group's habitual approach to songwriting and recording.

W e laid down the first guitar parts in a hurry without really thinking," says Burger, "A bit like you would if you were making a demo for an album. But I reckon 90% of that original material ended up in the final mix! I don't think we've ever recorded the guitars so quickly in our entire career. We wrapped up the guitar side of things in just one weekend!"

Guitarist Philippe Poirier also appreciated Caple's innovative approach to production which, he points out, owes a lot to recent advances in studio technology. "The technology we're able to use in the studio these days is amazing,"he says, "You can save everything as you go along. You never have to go back and record the slightest thing over again! And that means you can keep an improvisational edge to your sound. These new recording techniques are great – they really fit in with our way of making music. We're really into the idea of researching new sounds. In fact, there's nothing we like better than surprising ourselves in the studio by coming up with a new way of playing a track. Recording technology's finally caught up with our inspiration. These days it's possible to keep a bit of spontaneity and musicality on the final cut!"

Given Kat Onoma's urge to experiment with new sounds and recording techniques this time round, their new album could not have been better named. "Like Our Name Says" is a veritable musical manifesto, which actually sums up Kat Onoma better than any other album to date. Fusing the group's monastic rigour with their energetic fervour and rock vitality, Kat Onoma also finds the group breaking free of the 'intellectual' label that critics have often tagged onto their work.

The majority of tracks on the new album incorporate radically new elements such as a string quartet. ("It took us a long while to come round to accepting that!" Burger admits with a wry smile). But a couple of songs on Kat Onoma venture even further down a new musical path, including backing from a gospel choir! But Kat Onoma owe the most radical departure on their new album to Ian Caple's computer expertise in the studio.
"These days computer technology's right at the heart of the recording process,", explains Burger, "It's thanks to computers that we're able to mix analog and digital recording techniques. If you looked closely into how we achieved the final mix of sounds on the new album, you'd be amazed! It was a very longwinded process, I can tell you, involving recording the takes digitally, then transferring them onto analog equipment. At the same time we used analog rhythms and reworked them digitally on computer using Pro Tools. Then after that we played them back through an old analog deck!" "Ian really pushed us to go as far as we could on the acoustic takes which were recorded in a chapel in Vosges. (Ian's very much of the Abbey Road school as he worked as an assistant there when he started out!) At the same time he was really into the idea of playing around with the sound on hi-tech computers. What's great about Ian is that he uses these really old Telefunken speakers, the sort of thing you can pick up for around 300 francs in a second-hand shop! Those Telefunken were the first generation of speakers to use 'digital delay', but Ian fiddled about on his computers and wiped out all the defects. He managed to get rid of all the extra crackle and the flat sound. The technical equipment used in the studio today really gives contemporary music its characteristic sound. But people don't associate new digital techniques with music that much – they're much better-known in the film world!"
This mix of analog and digital sounds combined with Kat Onoma's legendary rock energy and meditative lyrics make Kat Onoma one of the most accomplished rock albums seen this year – or possibly even this generation!

Bertrand Dicale

Kat Onoma, EMI ref 7243 5312110 5

Kat Onoma tour dates to add to your diary: Brussels (May 2nd) Paris (May 3rd) Lille (May 4th), Toulouse (May 8th) Marseilles (May 9th), Annecy (May 11th), Lyons (May 12th), Clermont-Ferrand (May 15th), Mulhouse (May 18th) and Strasbourg (May 19th).