Midnight Magic's nine-person disco funk ensemble creates music brimming with earth-shaking basslines, rock solid rhythms and propulsive, grandiose horns that take their sublime anthems to rare heights. As evidenced on this release of all new material presented by Scion A/V, the band recalls a groovier and looser time in New York City history.
1. "What The Eyes Can't See"
Bouncy wonder jam "What The Eyes Can't See" is carried away by Carter Yatusake's dubby trumpet blasts that swirl over the pounding four on the floor drums. But it's singer Tiffany Roth's emphatic, passionate pleas that keep the song emotionally grounded.
2. "Heat"
"Heat" captures the frantic feeling of a New York summer day—the kind where the temperature keeps rising and the humidity feels like a full body embrace from a blast furnace. The phased hi-hat races along like an elevated heart rate, while the bassline bubbles up like hot asphalt. Roth's multi-tracked vocal harmonies at first act like a soothing breeze, but by the end to the track they've melted like everything else.
3. "Someone's Watching Me"
Cold synths and drum machines give "Someone's Watching Me" that classic Italo disco feel, which makes Roth's paranoid cries take on an extreme sense of urgency. For a moment in the middle of the song, everything drops out except Morgan Wiley's ominous synth line and Andrew Raposa's strident bass, and the emptiness is both enthralling and terrifying. Thankfully, the rest of the band kicks back in, so you know you're never alone when you've got a good tune to keep you company.
4. "Julio"
"Julio" showcases Roth's more soulful side, her restrained vocals giving the harmonies a luscious quality…until the latin-tinged chorus reveal her affectations. It's a beautiful façade, as irresistible horns and Bernie Worrell-esque synthesizers work together to woo Julio, now all grown up after years of hanging down by the schoolyard.
5. "Calling Out"
If you haven't already fallen in love with Tiffany Roth yet, this is the moment where your heart becomes puddy. The synth sounds make the seduction almost seem like an extraterrestrial abduction, and "Calling Out" is a spaceship anyone would willingly board—one bound for the part of the galaxy where 1978 never ended and the stars twinkle like cosmic disco balls.
Midnight Magic - What The Eyes Can't See by Midnight Magic
