French progressive rock quintet Ange have just had their fourth album, 1975's Émile Jacotey, reissued by Fench prog specialists Musea Records.
The Belfort five-piece, who formed in September 1969 by the Décamps brothers, Francis (keyboards) and Christian (vocals, accordion, acoustic guitar and keyboards), were known for basing their albums around fantasy and medieval texts, and pans for their fourth album originally were to follow suit.
However, during a tour of England, Christian Décamps received a letter from his cousine containing an article from the newspaper L'Est républicain. about an old
blacksmith from Saulnot in Haute-Saône named Émile Jacotey, who shared fascinating local legends. Suitable intrigued, Décamps met Jacotey and recorded forty-five minutes of inspiring conversations that would give birth to several songs on the album.
Originally inspired by the early prog sounds of King Crimson and Procol Harum, Ange are best known in the UK for appearing at the 1973 Reading Festival where they appeared under Genesis on the bill.
The new 2024 reissue is available as a CD with a poster and download code.
