Mediavolo’s last album, A Secret Sound (2006), is a brilliant display of Gothic shoegazer Pop from a French duo that is not to be missed.  Singer Geraldine Le Cocq’s wonderful voice (comparable to Harriet Wheeler of The Sundays’ fame) filled the spaces of multi-instrumentalist, Jacques Henry’s spacious music.  Simply put, the album is entrancing.

On their latest work, Unaltered Empire, there is a wonderful air of maturity as the songs take on a stronger sensitivity and strength.  Le Cocq further explores her vocal range while Henry shows real progression with the quality of his compositions.  The first three songs are as different from each other as much of what you heard on A Secret Sound.  By the time you arrive at (the third song), you will be a fan of this French duo but even more so, you will have fallen in love with Geraldine Le Cocq’s voice.

There are several remarkable Cocteau Twins-like tunes on this album but uniquely so.  On "To the Eye", it is as if Fraser and Wheeler are one and the same person, but this only serves to highlight the strengths of Le Cocq’s vocals capabilities, which are extraordinary.  Fans of The Sundays and/or Cocteau Twins would do well to investigate this band; you will be enchanted.  Unaltered Empire is a good place to start.

It’s not often that you hear bands become more than their collective efforts.  Usually, replication is the safe harbour most seek.  Not so with Mediavolo, who continues to surprise me and amaze me with their wonderful – and highly listenable – collection of well-crafted songs.  I love it when albums stay with you for years, and Mediavolo has given me those. Unaltered Empire is a sublime addition to that Mediavolo mystique.