DANSE LA MUSIQUE

I probably shouldn't say this right now, but don't believe everything you read, especially if it's exactly what you want to believe; there is probably another side. From the album title, the cover (well, at least the pecs and abs are worth displaying) , the year of release, the awareness that it was followed by the meh "Glen River", and a few terse reviews I have read, I was expecting some sort of disco or new romantic extraction by the Celtic roots. It's true this is a less "pure" take on the rarefied Breton experience but it's more via a bass-driven new age sheen, with the usual jazzy overtones on call. As such, "Danse La Musique", apart from a few throwaway trad-ish numbers, is yet another easily embraced surprise.

Sometimes the rocked up elements are a bit overstated and a lot over produced, such as in "Celtic Break", and the woodwind excursions do draw comparisons to the likes of TIM WEISBERG (with and without DAN FOGELBERG) as well as MONTREUX, SHADOWFAX and a few other Wyndham Hill acts, but mostly that's in a good way. It's hard to harshly judge the distinction of the MOTIS-like title track, with suave vocals, the first on any of their major releases, by guitarist Bertrand Binet, and the delicacy of the longest cut, "Aurore Boreale".

I imagine that Gwendal's considerable peak popularity might have largely diffused by this time, and perhaps they would have been better served to bow out right after, rather than dance their way through a few more barely and poorly received projects.