Mezzanotte – Midnight
From Mezzanotte – S/T
Released on Sneak Preview, 1984, France

For us, writing about this record is basically an excuse to pay tribute to one of our favorite producers from Belgium, Frank Degryse. Don’t expect us to go deeply into his discography as it is enormous and chock-full of mind-blowing tunes… To name a few –  some of which recently got a lot of attention – we can mention What Is Love Today by Fg’s Romance (that has just been reissued on STROOM), Flyin’ To Santa Barbara, Réservé‘s synthpop beauties or the all-time dancefloor classic Night Force‘s Hold The Night.

It’s quite paradoxical to compare how little famous his name is and how much of a signature sound Frank Degryse has. If you clicked on all the links above, and though you may not have noticed striking similarities between all the songs, you might still have noticed how all these songs have in common a generous, warm sound : that is Degryse’s touch.

It’s not just about the sound of the records though: Frank Degryse is responsible for amazingly sophisticated melodies and, of course, he masters many synths (DX7, Jupiter 8, …) and drum machines like only a few does… We’ll stop the preach here, but remember, next time you see his name on a record sleeve, be sure to check the record out !

Another unsung hero involved in this Mezzanotte project is Nathalie Roussel. Hardcore film buffs might no her name from the movies she’s been playing in, but if you’ve ever read her name before it’s probably while nerdily browsing through Jean-Pierre Massiera‘s extensive discography. We’ll let you take a look at what she arranged and composed, there might be some good surprises…

Midnight  – as its name suggests – is a late-night jam that perfectly encapsulates the crepuscular sound of these musicians. It seems to confirm what we just said about Degryse : the melody is both emotional and sophisticated and the overall sound is heart-meltingly warm. Enough said, help yourself to a last drink and play it.