Midrone 2025
Foreverness Revisited
From Barcelona to eternity, art-minded trio stream their storytelling across the dancefloor.
Given that the last two platters from this collective were covers-centered, and the last original offering from Paul J. No’s project was “reFascination” which emerged in 2021, one could assume he retired MIDRONE to focus on his other ensemble, LUNEAR. But while the French artist was indeed working on the latter band’s 2026 album, he also reached into archives to dust off the material preceding the former group’s debut, “My Kingdom” from 2014, and recorded the forgotten pieces anew, with the same people who created "There Is Always Next Time" – guitarist JP Benadjer and drummer Seb Bournier – so there’s a fine line between the two concepts now. Or, rather, a blurred line, with an earlier enterprise heading towards prog rock and the later one reaching for a pop allure.
The results of such an approach that form “Foreverness Revisited” direct the ’80s discotheques into an alternative future, yet the subjects of the ten numbers on display run much deeper than the arresting tunes and finger-popping grooves may suggest. So even though opener “A Miracle Is In The Air” and the titular finale seem irresistible in their sweet simplicity, as Paul’s synthesizers and voice drive the soft assault before JP’s strings soar and roar on a solo, there’s also sadness in these insistent cuts, the feeling which “The Little Walk Down Memory Lane” expand on through acoustic strum and sympathetic beat reminiscent of the ’70s middle-of-the-road nostalgia. Still, the intricately layered, faux-symphonic “Many Ways To Say Goodbye” brings forth riffs to carve contemporary rave out of the ether and let balladry be exhilarating in a way best Joe Dassin’s chansons used to do, whereas the initially molasses-like “Don’t Mean Anything” proceeds to add desperate airiness to the album’s nocturnal tones, and “Springtime Nights” and “Halo” go for gorgeous uplift, as the energetic piano and vocal harmonies turn spiritual.
And if the Eastern motifs of “Arabian Wonders” sound unexpected in this European gloom, they actually evoke Satie’s “Gnossiennes” set to a slowed-down house rhythm, allowing No’s words flow in the most enchanting fashion until “The Story Of Jimmy Jack” projects heavy anxiety on a similar canvas, preparing the ground for “The Party Is Over” that weaves spoken snippets of “The Crash of 1929” documentary into its claustrophobic jive and exudes the end-of-time abandon. Capturing the gist of infinity, “Foreverness Revisited” is spellbinding.
*****
