Motorifik - Secret Things
by Adrian Huggins
published: 3 / 11 / 2010

Label:
Modern Languages
Format: CD
intro
Uplifting experimental pop on debut album from Motorifik, the side project of Phil Kay of Working for A Nuclear Free City and French songwriter Idrisse Khelifi
Bridging the old channel gap between Britain and France, Motorifik is the side project of Phil Kay of Working for A Nuclear Free City and French songwriter Idrisse Khelifi. Motorifik was born out of a will to create something that had some of the elements of Working for a Nuclear Free City but with more of a pop leaning. The trans channel twosome have done a pretty good job of doing just that. ‘Ghosts’ is just gorgeous. It has an an element of the music of Ian Curtis, but in contrast is happy in sound and takes you up with it. ‘Sleep Forever’ is another classic pop sounding track that branches into a sort of Ian Broudie does Death Cab For Cutie vibe. There’s something unmistakably British in there with some firm beats and bass lines that cosy themselves underneath the waves of beautiful and dreamlike vocals from Khelifi. Fans of Kay's other band will be very pleased with ‘Strange Colour’ and ‘Used Angel’ which intertwine bold moments along with driving melodies that sit together perfectly. Instrumental tune ‘A Vision’ is blissfully uplifting and should be made compulsory traffic listening every morning. Trust me the world would be a much better place. ‘Nostalgie’ and ‘Nameless Colour’ give full flight to the mellow side of Motorifik, making an atmospheric use of acoustic guitars, strings and piano. They prove that sometimes less is more as they build and lead you to believe that there’s something else coming, but by the time you realize there isn’t you discover the journey was clearly better than anything else that could have come. ‘Flames on the Ocean’ finishes off ‘Secret Things’ perfectly and leaves you in a post orgasmic like trance that leaves you satisfied yet quietly hoping for more.
Track Listing:-
1 Secret Things2 The Cause
3 Ghosts
4 Nameless Colour
5 Strange Weather
6 A Vision
7 Used Angel
8 Nostalgie
9 Sleep Forever
10 Flames On The Ocean
most viewed articles
current edition
Carl Ewens - David Bowie 1964 to 1982 On Track: Every Album, Every SongArmory Show - Interview with Richard Jobson
Colin Blunstone - Thalia Hall, Chicago, 16/7/2025
Visor Fest - Valencia, Spain, 26/9/2025...27/9/2025
Bathers - Photoscapes 1
John McKay - Interview
Loft - Interview
Robert Forster - Interview
Billie Eilish - O2 Arena, London, 10/7/2025
Sir Tim Rice - Interview
most viewed reviews
current edition
Amy Macdonald - Is This What You've Been Waiting For?Sick Man of Europe - The Sick Man of Europe
Lucy Spraggan - Other Sides of the Moon
Phew, Erika Kobayashi,, Dieter Moebius - Radium Girls
Alice Cooper - The Revenge of Alice Cooper
Davey Woodward - Mumbo in the Jumbo
Bush - I Beat Loneliness
Blueboy - 2
Suzanne Vega - Flying With Angels
Cynthia Erivo - I Forgive You
Pennyblackmusic Regular Contributors
Adrian Janes
Amanda J. Window
Andrew Twambley
Anthony Dhanendran
Benjamin Howarth
Cila Warncke
Daniel Cressey
Darren Aston
Dastardly
Dave Goodwin
Denzil Watson
Dominic B. Simpson
Eoghan Lyng
Fiona Hutchings
Harry Sherriff
Helen Tipping
Jamie Rowland
John Clarkson
Julie Cruickshank
Kimberly Bright
Lisa Torem
Maarten Schiethart