LAURENCE VANAY ‎(GALAXIES)

The pseudonym Laurence Vanay belongs to female musician Jacqueline Thibault, husband of Magma's early bassist Laurent Thibault.She made extended studies as a young teenager on music theory, harmony and improvisation, before starting singing in churches.In 1972 she was part of the band Nanajo along with Laurent Thibault, who had already left Magma.In 1974 Thibault arranged her first personal LP for SFP, entitled ''Galaxies''.She was helped by Laurent Thibault on bass, Jean Chevalier on drums, Serge Derrien (later with Keris) on guitars, flutes and voices, while Jacqueline Thibault plays the Hammond organ, the acoustic guitars and sings.

The album has a mystic and beautiful atmosphere, pointing out the talent of Thibault in creating great moods and arranging.It is close to the majestic moments of CATHARSIS and the folkier themes of ANGE, while sounding quite personal allthe way.A mix of Folk Music and light Symphonic Rock, ''Galaxies'' has a smooth sound from start to end with brilliant and ethereal soundscapes created by the soft acoustic passages, the careful use of Hammond organ and the elegant style the flutes are used.There are plenty of instrumental pieces in here with extended use of organs and a very mellow rhythm section, sometimes delivering repetitive yet very interesting themes with a dicreet psychedelic approach but also a hidden symphonic nature.Often these textures resemble to the original sound of GOBLIN.The vocal tracks sound so very French with Vanay having a romantic, impressive voice, and these are closer to French Folk, being more acoustic-oriented.The organ though remains again present, even staying in the background, adding a very somber atmosphere as a whole.

Very relaxed musicianship, which somehow creates very deep emotions.Recommended to all fans of the lighter side of Progressive Rock.