PRINCE DES HAUTEURS

French prog in a large measure, and French popular music in general, can tend to the theatrical if not histrionic, which may be a bounty or bane depending on one's disposition and/or mood of the moment. But the French are also the masters of a debonair cool, and artists from this school exude a coy and sophisticated charm. The product may not be danceable in musculoskeletal terms, but can evoke a candlelit festival in one's mind's eye with the sort of gentle swaying of serotonin soaked neurons that could put Eli Lilly out of business. Passing unnoticed for days, weeks, months or years, they suddenly "click" and one is irrevocably smitten. MOTIS is such a formation.

While the style here is the Breton variant of Celtic rock, the progressive adjective can be applied as readily as folk, jazz, and even swing. It is lurking wherever the accompanying instrumentation is permitted a brief rise to the fore, in the ethereal keyboard touches, the flute interludes, the time shifts within and between, the deft connection of pieces, and the crystalline perfectionism of the production.

The opener, "Roman le Renard", is a case in point, encapsulating 2 songs in one that are clearly meant to be joined at the hip. "Chanson a Boire" begins ominously before becoming a jazz tinged ode to drinking. The reggae fix of "Le Rire et L'Epee" is fitted with mandolin and mellotron as it morphs from a more traditional islands groove to a breathless Paris night club rant without batting an eye. L'Eveil des Gargoules" is a macabre symphonic piece with celtic and acoustic underpinnings until the frenetic lead guitar muscles in.

These highlights notwithstanding, essentially every track offers a refreshing aural treat, an embarrassment of riches if you acknowledge the wondrous diversity of the progressive diaspora. A genre of such breadth cannot be limited to one peak, and this debut by Motis attains a princely height of its own.

French prog folk has an unique magic based on a constant sense of darkness and melancholic moments which set the listener into floating worlds. And Motis fill completely this needing with this 11 songs leaded by acoustic string sections and a superb work on vocals.

Even when folk arrangements are primordial on this album (and Motis discography), symphonic prog is present as a necessary background to fill all the spaces in this beautiful record that doesn't loose his power and energy in almost 50 minutes of songs cover by beautiful melodies, epical moments and some awsome symph prog sections which turns this album into a hidden jewel that deserves to be discovered... Not far away from a masterpiece...

Motis is a French singer/songwriter, who decided to pursue a solo career after his experience as a member of various small bands.With drummer Remy Diaz he formed a Folk duo, influenced by Celtic, World and Rock music.They released together a few live and studio independent albums from 2000 to 2004.This was the breakthrough year for them.They were already joined by guitarist/flutist Florent Tissot and shared the same stage with Ange.Christian Decamps promoted the band through an Ange fanzine and Motis signed a deal with Musea's sublabel Musea Parallele, which released the album ''Prince des hauteurs'' in 2004.

With this release Motis' sound became more polished, diverse and progressive, adding more prominent electric parts and keyboards in their style, obviously influenced by the folky side of ANGE.Still Motis maintains a song-based style propably closer to the approach of his first albums with plenty of lyrics, but his poetic voice is more than welcome.However there is a great balance between the folky side of the band and the new additions like the electric guitars and the impressive Mellotron waves.The songs are short but contain plenty of well-crafted themes, short instrumental breaks and even 70's symphonic references, mixing the delicacy of French Folk with the grandiosity of Progressive Rock.The acoustic guitars are nicely blended with the vintage keyboards, the archaic flute drives and the melodic electric guitars, while the album is filled with beautiful and warm singing lines.

There is enough rock content in ''Prince des hauteurs'' to consider it as a great Progressive/Folk Rock release.The ability of the trio to change its sound from sensitive folk stylings to dramatic proggy soundscapes is the greatest reason to purchase the album and have eventually a listen to Motis.Warmly recommended.