Motorifik - Secret Things

  by Adrian Huggins

published: 3 / 11 / 2010

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Review

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 Things
2 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