This French quintet was formed in 1998 with two brothers, Dominique and Claude Leonetti very much at its helm. However, the band’s story goes back two years prior to that date when Claude was involved in a motorcycle accident which robbed him of the use of his left arm, certainly a life-changing experience when you are a guitarist. However, out of this tragedy came subsequent triumph when Claude oversaw the development of a unique instrument called the Léode. Resembling a Chapman stick, it is a veritable sonic box of tricks which Claude is able to operate solely with his right hand through a selection of programmed systems. That instrument has shaped band’s distinct and powerful sound. Fast forward to last year when the band was invited to play at the Summer’s End Festival, one of the top prog festivals in the UK at which they were headlining on the opening Friday night. Your humble reviewer had only heard one track of theirs previously courtesy of an online radio show and it failed to register then. However, it was hard not to notice them at the festival during which they delivered one of the most spectacular live performances I have ever seen in nearly 40 years of gig-going.

They completely rewrote the rules of prog, in my humble opinion, with a set of such huge power, energy, originality and perhaps above all else, enchantment.  It was a masterstroke of the organisers to have invited them to play as they are not usually seen outside mainland Europe.  They provided possibly one of the biggest talking points of the weekend. (Some of us are still talking about it even now!) So, having been given the best possible introduction to the wonderful world of Lazuli, could [4603 battements] their fifth self-produced and distributed album fulfil the promise they showed at the festival? Mais naturellement.

Albums of such unique power, charm and creativity such as this do not come along all that often and with the band also responsible for the absolutely spot-on sharp production, there is very little to fault on this astonishing album. Like their name, it is one precious musical gem in the current prog canon. If you elect to buy one untried album by a previously unheard band this year, then this has got to be at the very top of the list.  Its central theme is time, and throughout it has a recurring ticking clock motif and its title suggests the number of beats it took to create it. The band has seen several personnel changes in the past but the current line-up of the Leonetti brothers, plus Gédéric Byar on guitar, Romain Thorel on keyboards and French horn and Vincent Barnavol on drums, percussion and marimba might suggest this is going to be an album full of pleasant surprises.  And again, the answer to that is a resounding “oui!”

This review is available in book format (hardcover and paperback) in Music Street Journal: 2012  Volume 1 at lulu.com/strangesound.

Brief opening seconds comprise “[“. It’s just an extremely short bit that leads directly into the next one.

For the finale, “]” quickly reprieves the ticking clock and the instrumental section of “Je te laisse ce monde,” thus bringing the story full circle.