CYCLE I

How can Zeuhl be so light and accessible? I went to this album after reading that this band is where Xing Sa are from, and being their currently only album one of my favorite albums of the recent years I went to Setna.

I was expecting something good, but this is more than good. It seems to be conceived as a suite as all the tracks fall continuously one into the other. It goeas from repetitive and hypnotic ("Voir") to jazzy ("Etre") passing by a lot of "impressions", but all excellent and enhanced by the very warm voice of Natacha Jou't.

There's no need, I think, to go track by track or making detailed descriptions of the music. This is in few words what I call "Blue effect music". Something that gives me a sensation of peace and rest after a hard day. Dreams and mental images just before sleeping, music comingfrom the Moon....

There's not the usual darkness as in many Zeuhl albums. There's a lot of jazz, very soft and skillfully played so that I think that if it wasn't for specifically Zeuhl moments, specially when Natacha sings, this band could have been added to JR/F as well.

Just let me mention the closer track "Unite" which features a fantastic guitar riff on a jazzy base that could appeal even fans of Santana. The rhythmic section (bass and drums) support then a keyboard riff that....well, have you present the Camel's most jazzy moments with Richard Sinclair? Just the three tracks that I've mentioned are three good reasons to have this album. At the same level of the Xing Sa one, an album for all the (prog) tastes, even for those who think that they don't like Zeuhl: try it.

The rating? Masterpiece is a very big word, but we don't have a rating that's more than just "Excellent addition", so I want to be a bit generous. Even if not an absolute masterpiece it really deserves more than 4 stars.