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NOUVEAUX MONDES
Tracklist: Hubble; L'Or des Indes; Voler En Eclats; Les Conquerants; Don Juan; Atomik; Alexandre; My Only Quest; Cathedrale.
Cafeine first formed, as a five piece band, in France back in 1990.
After the usual settling in period they reached a fairly stable core line up consisting of two of the founder members; Patrick Jobard (guitar) and Christophe Houssin (keyboards) joined by Jean-Christophe Lamoureux (bass guitar) and Hervé Morel (drums). Initially the band tried out a number of different vocalists for playing live dates before taking on Philippe Ladousse in 1993. This was to be the line up with which the band released their debut album, 'La Citadelle', in 1994. Further changes were to come the following year when Hervé Morel left the band with the vacancy quickly filled by Régis Bravi.
After performing a number of successful live shows the band to turned their attention to working on the next album, 'Nouveaux Mondes' (New Worlds). However, due to Phillipe Ladousse's busy commitments and the
variety of styles featured on the album, it was quickly decided that several vocalists would be used for the different songs and amongst the guests featured are Pierre-Yves Teurillat (Galaad), Christian Decamps
(Ange) and Julie Vander (Magma).
Thankfully, all of the vocals are sung in French, as one might expect, and this neatly avoids any of the accent problems that seem to put off so many people. While the limitations of my linguistic abilities
mean I am not really able to offer any insight into the lyrical content of the songs, I can say that the feeling and conviction with which they are delivered is fairly self evident and the sound is enjoyable whether
you are able to understand French or not.
The album opens with an instrumental piece entitled 'Hubble', which, with the use of keyboard runs and the heavier edge to the guitar work, gives a feel that is perhaps not too far removed from bands like Spock's
Beard or Dream Theater (in their lighter moments) - a sound that one could argue is becoming a little overused of late.
However there is a lot more to Cafeine than simply being an imitation of what has gone before.
The compositions generally tend to be strongly underscored and feature well developed musical themes. While the songs are sometimes richly melodic, the band seem to be equally at home when taking an altogether more quirky and, at times, discordant approach.
From the listener's point of view the keyboard and guitar work are what really stands out above all else with tracks like 'Voler en Eclats' and 'Don Juan' scoring well. There are also good opportunities for the bass
work to shine; 'Atomik' being a particularly good example.
'Alexandre', featuring excellent vocals by Cyril Grimaud from the band Hauteville, is probably one of my favourite pieces.
This features a wide range of keyboard styles, piano and synthesiser passages, solid guitar playing and, as a bonus, the whole track manages to capture a feel for seventies progressive music while at the same time occasionally going beyond the usual bounds of the progressive genre.
The final track 'Cathedrale' is also worthy of mention. This song features singers from Minimum Vital; Sonia Nédélec and Jean-Baptiste Ferracci. It's quite a long piece that is really spirited and
uplifting. Church organ sounds in amongst the keyboard work, and occasional snippets which sound like plainsong all adds to the powerful atmosphere while another nice touch is a bridging piece sung by Sonia
Nédélec which has a strong folk element to it.
The decision to use the different vocalists throughout has certainly proved to be a good one in my opinion, and this factor coupled with the inclusion of a number of guest musicians providing cello, flute, oboe and
bassoon all helps to add variety and tone to this album.
While at times the music may not perhaps be startlingly original this is, nevertheless, a very competently put together album and the fact that it is so well crafted and well played more than compensates for any
shortcomings it may have. If you should have any doubts at all from the language point of view I would strongly urge you to cast them aside now ... this album is well worth checking out.
Simon 6th February 2001
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