After a decade led by Olivier Benoit’s six-strings, the twelvetet from Lille is now guided by Christophe Hache’s four-strings, while remaining true to its form and its musicians. The flagship of Circum collective keeps progressing in the breaks of its music, as if it was one step ahead of its own shadow. From guitar to bass, the electricity remains the same; an astounding movements accelerator (…). Circum Grand Orchestra’s heart keeps pulsating with impetuosity in the depth of its horns. An incisive discourse appears in this acid bath where it is pleasant to plunge. Their sooty lines, heated with the most sparkling rock, sometimes pour out in the contemporary gaps, abstract grooves that make the orchestral mass shine. The changing colors are as so many discussions between the musicians, from confabulation to general tumult. The strength of this orchestra lies in the freedom for each musician to bring his own fold to the material, without altering the general sewing. No risk of embossed effect: as the Renaissance statues that illustrated their previous album cover, le Ravissement (the Rapture), every detail, every bulge, every sinuosity creates an overall dynamism. Lacy counterpoints, polyrhythm veil; what may seem frenetic, built on the sharp blade of improvisation is actually a constant balance, weighted to the nearest breath. (…) Double meaning is the driving force of Circum Grand Orchestra, with its odd pairs reminding us that twelve is a multiple of three. As for the rapture, our rapture, it remains the exact same. Joyfully ardent, just like this music. Franpi Barriaux, March 2013 (www.franpisunship.com) CHRISTOPH HACHE : ELECTRIC BASS, COMPOSITION JEAN-BAPTISTE PEREZ, JULIEN FAVREUILLE : SAXOPHONES, FLUTES CHRISTOPHE ROCHER : BASS CLARINET CHRISTIAN PRUVOST : TRUMPET AYMERIC AVICE : TRUMPET, FLUGELHORN CHRISTOPHE MOTURY : FLUGELHORN, VOICE SEBASTIEN BEAUMONT, IVANN CRUZ : GUITARS STEFAN ORINS : PIANO NICOLAS MAHIEUX : DOUBLE BASS JEAN-LUC LANDSWEERDT, PETER ORINS : DRUMS