Opera Multi Steel was born during the winter of 1983 in Bourges, a city in the center of France. Originally a trio comprised of Franck Lopez (vocals, keyboards, guitars), his brother Patrick L. Robin (vocals, percussion) and Catherine M. Marie (keyboards, vocals), the band began to record demos utilizing an Elex keyboard, Casio VL-Tone, Roland TR-606 drum machine, guitars and pedals. Layering organ-like keyboards over drum machine snares and a woodwind recorder, they created a unique style of Medieval or Baroque synth pop, and released their self-titled debut EP on their own label Orcadia Machina in 1984. The four songs range from fast and bright new wave influenced by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark's Electricity and slower, brooding dark wave ballads like Faith-era Cure that foreshadowed the classic French cold wave sounds of their debut album Catherdrale released the following year. All songs have been remastered for vinyl by George Horn at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley. The jacket is a die-cut replica of the original sleeve using master templates the band created in 1984 and offset printed on heavy French off-white card stock. Each copy includes an inner sleeve printed with lyrics and 17th century perspective line drawings by Jean Vredeman de Vries. Celebrate the 30th anniversary of these new wave troubadours' earliest beginnings.
