LAURENCE VANAY ‎(GALAXIES)

Laurence Vanay is the name that Jacqueline Thibault used for her solo work instead of her own. She was married to Laurent Thibault who was MAGMA's first bass player back in 1969 but he left before the first album was recorded. He would start his own record label and he also created an absolutely beautiful album back in 1979 that his wife played keyboards on.

"Galaxies" is a very pleasant recording, quite mellow with Jacqueline's French vocals that I enjoy. Kind of folky really but I really enjoy her organ playing on here and how melancholic this album is. We get ten songs over the 32 plus minutes, so a lot of short tracks here.

"Catalepsic" is the opening instrumental and we get this repetitive melody with vocal melodies over top. Nice bass after a minute. I like when the organ arrives before 2 minutes. The guitar will replace the organ at 3 minutes. "Demain" is piano, bass and vocals along with some organ. Flute arrives before 1 1/2 minutes. "Le Loup Qui Pleure" is led by the acoustic guitar at first as flute and percussion join in. Piano comes to the fore after 2 minutes.

"La Grand Voile" opens with organ, bass and drums as vocals also join in. A pleasant sound here, quite warm. "Soleil Rouge" is a top three song for me. It's an instrumental and we get a little more life and energy here as the guitar, drums and organ standout. Some vocal melodies late. "Le Coeur Lourd" is my favourite. It's laid back but I do like that prominent bass a lot. The organ helps out along with a beat and piano. Some vocal melodies before 1 1/2 minutes remind me of Robert Wyatt because of their style. Flute follows then some guitar expressions.

"Juste Te Revoir" is mostly acoustic guitar melodies and vocals. "Le Bateau" is my final top three. Organ and a beat lead the way but man I like this one. "Deux Phares" is another good one with organ, a beat, bass and vocals. I like how melancholic this one is. "Galaxies" ends it and it's an organ dominated song. Almost silence arrives before 2 1/2 minutes with faint sounds before it kicks back in.

Man this is a tough one to rate as I'm being pulled towards 3 stars but at the same time I'm being pulled towards 4 stars. Right in between I guess, so 3.5 stars but I'm rounding up because I really dig the mood, organ, bass and her vocals.