Figures In Motion – Confusion Will Pass

Figures In Motion – Confusion Will Pass

Searching for a new album to write about, I tuned into Jamendo’s Indie radio station.  I’m not sure how exactly they put this thing together – from what I can tell, it plays songs tagged as “indie” back-to-back like a radio station; you can’t skip ahead or go back to hear previous songs.  So if you hear something you like, you’d better click on it.

One of the songs that came up was Curled Up by French indie band Figures In Motion.  It’s off of their debut album Confusion Will Pass, which was released in 2014.

Confusion Will Pass is the first full-length album of Figures in Motion. It was entirely written, recorded and produced at home. Mastered by Jeff Ferrand (WooDBox Studio).

 This album was a treat to listen to.  It truly lives up to the “indie” tag, though touches down into pop and alternative on a few tracks.  Overall, I heard some heavy Coldplay influences – the lead vocalist Mickaël Menu sounds a lot like Chris Martin – mixed with Radiohead.  Not surprisingly, Radiohead is listed first among their main influences (others include Sigur Rós and Aphex Twin).  The sound of the band is predominantly electronic, but there are some acoustic touches as well, with a lot of piano.

I couldn’t really key in on the lyrics – it was hard for me to figure out what they were singing about.  Granted, I was working while listening, but Menu’s singing style made it hard to pick out distinct words and I found it hard to decipher any meaning behind the music.  That said, the instrumentation is fantastic and was what drew me to the album in the first place.  I just wish I could have picked out more of the words.

Figures In Motion – Cycle EP

From what I can see, there aren’t any new albums from Figures In Motion available on Jamendo.  I checked out their website and was disappointed to find that they have a “farewell” message posted; I’m not sure when they disbanded, but it looks like it might have been a while now, and “Confusion Will Pass” is their only full-length album.  If you want to check out some of their other work, you’ll have to make do with their 2011 EP, Cycle.  That one opens with a track that just screams “Radiohead”.