‘Trepass lands, Keep out they said, Whoever owns this land, Owns it until heaven and hell’ (Trespass To Land)

Trespass is the fourth album from CIA Debutante, a Franco-Australian duo comprising Paul Bonnet on electronics and Nathan Roche on guitar / vocals.  Their template of sombrely narrated vocals and darkly dissonant electronic soundscapes is well established, but Trepsass arguably represents the fullest realisation of their bleakly evocative sonic imaginary.

The electronics form the bedrock, segueing from fiercely pulsing grooves to eerily immersive excursions, nurturing an atmosphere that is equal parts gothic horror and futuristic dystopia.  Mist smothered ruins morphing into desolate, barren wastelands and back again.  They are interwoven with flaringly abrasive guitar and mournfully swirling eddies of clarinet, while underpinned by the resolutely motorik percussion that builds the more propulsive energies that first came to the fore on their last album, 2023’s Down, Willow.

In the meantime, Roche conjures his darkly evocative recitals.  A fragmented, absurdist poetical commentary that toys and ruminates with a detached regret at our current trajectory.  Trespass To Land lures you assuredly into this vortex, a grip that the slow burn escalation of Came Across A Potter only tightens.  From there, the uneasy agitations of Flesh Microchip Repair and hypnotically discordant Spill only suck us deeper into contemplating this doomed road we seem compelled to travel.