Tonight

Synth pop and Italo-disco from 1984, by which time most Italo producers had completely purged live instruments from their productions as is the case here, with the entire album constructed from icy 80s synths and drum machine rhythms. Despite the cool sound palette, Tonight still manages to be genuinely atmospheric, romantic in places even, with emotive moments like when the uplifting chorus in A Love Again beautifully rises up from its leaden, synth-heavy verse. It’s all about the mood here, generating yearning via big synth chords, crispy synthetic percussion and moody vocals. This album, where the disco elements had been reduced to mere musical echoes, perfectly nails a very particular 80s stately/epic/cold synth-pop aesthetic.