Midnight Sun -

Midnight Sun was a Danish art-rock band that released three albums on Sonet between 1971 and 1974. The band’s first album is a rerecording of the singular full-length issued under their earlier incarnation as Rainbow Band.

Members: Peer Frost (guitar), Niels Brøndsted (piano), Bent Hesselman (saxophone, flute), Carsten Smedegaard (drums), Allan Mortensen (vocals, 1971-72), Bo Stief (bass, 1971-72), Frank Lauritsen (vocals, 1972-74), Jens Elbøl (bass, 1972-74)

Backround

Midnight Sun formed in Copenhagen in late 1969 under the name Rainbow Band. The group brought together players from several strong corners of the Danish scene: guitarist Peer Frost came from Young Flowers, singer Lars Bisgaard arrived from Maxwells, drummer Carsten Smedegaard had left Beefeaters, and saxophonist-flutist Bent Hesselmann joined pianist Niels Brøndsted and bassist Bo Stief from the Montmartre jazz circle. That lineup cut a self-titled album for Sonet in 1970, but a rights dispute with a Canadian band forced a name change before the record could establish itself.

The band then entered a second phase. Bisgaard left in late 1970, Allan Mortensen came in from Tears, and the group re-recorded its debut material under the new name Midnight Sun, a reference to the 24-hour day phenomenon of Arctic and Antarctic regions, where summer daylight continues through the night.

Midnight Sun

Midnight Sun released their self-titled debut album in 1971 on Sonet. The album is a remake of Rainbow Band, recorded in December 1970 with new singer Allan Mortensen.

Peer Frost drives Midnight Sun with guitar lines that break the vocal sections open and pull the longer tracks toward wider release. Niels Brøndsted and Bent Hesselmann answer with piano, saxophone, and flute near the front of the mix.

“Talkin’” starts with bass, drums, and piano, then brings in sax and voice over a clipped pulse, with the electric piano taking a stronger role after the opening minute. “Nobody” foregrounds piano and opens into an extended instrumental passage, while “B.M.” works from strummed guitar, active drums, and a hard bass line before the vocal enters from deeper in the mix.

“Sippin’ Wine” leans on the horn line, with flute and sax giving the track most of its motion. “Living on the Hill” gathers the album’s strongest playing into a long, rising sequence: bass, guitar, and drums set the first frame, piano and sax thicken the middle, flute cuts through around the four-minute mark, and the second half turns into a sustained guitar run driven by forceful drumming and dense low-end movement before the closing surge. “Rainbow Song” eases the set out with a quieter, atmospheric close shaped by flute, strummed guitar, and a lighter rhythmic pull.

A1. “Talkin’” (4:58) – Mortensen, Brøndsted
A2. “King of the Sun” (4:23) – Mortensen, Levy, Hesselmann
A3. “Nobody” (4:57) – Traditional, Brøndsted
A4. “Where’re You Going to Be” (5:29) – Levy, Hesselmann
A5. “B.M.” (2:29) – Stief

B1. “Sippin’ Wine” (3:03) – Mortensen
B2. “Living on the Hill” (14:37) – Bisgaard, Frost
B3. “Rainbow Song” (3:41) – Hesselmann

Midnight Sun recorded Midnight Sun at Ivar Rosenberg Lydteknik in December 1970 with co-producer-engineer Freddy Hansson and engineer Ivar Rosenberg.

Roger Dean drew the cover, which uses a bright, storybook palette: dancers, riders, a giant frog, and a rounded carriage gather beneath a broad green tree in an open pastoral scene. Dean fills the sleeve with whimsical movement and fairytale detail, which suits the album’s lighter, more expansive visual world.

Walking Circles

Midnight Sun released their second album, Walking Circles, in September 1972 on Sonet.

Peer Frost turns the second album toward tighter songs and shorter breaks, while Niels Brøndsted and Bent Hesselmann keep piano, electric piano, saxophone, and flute in close dialogue across the compact arrangements. Frank Lauridsen adds harmonica to the front line.

“The Way of Zen” and “I’ve Got a New Mind” maintain direct vocal forms with an earthy pulse. “A La Turca” opens a lighter, more intricate stretch through active piano lines and tighter internal motion. “Country Song” and “Walking Circles” carry the more elaborate writing, with sax and keyboard parts weaving through looser sections and sharper exchanges between instruments.

A1. “Can You Hear the Music Play?” (3:57) – L. Helner, P. Helner
A2. “Country Song” (5:12) – Stief, Lauridsen
A3. “A La Turca” [In Turkish Style] (4:47) – Hesselmann
A4. “The Way of Zen” (3:49) – Levy, Lauridsen, Frost

B1. “I’ve Got a New Mind” (4:23) – Levy, Stief, Lauridsen, Brøndsted
B2. “Winds Gonna Blow” (5:40) – Levy, Brøndsted
B3. “Walking Circles” (7:21) – Levy, Brøndsted
B4. “I’m Living a Dream” (1:37) – Levy, Brøndsted

Midnight Sun recorded Walking Circles with co-producer-engineer Freddy Hansson.

Roger Dean again supplied the cover art, which places a seated skeleton on a small iceberg under a dark sky and cold blue sea, which gives Roger Dean’s cover a bleak, suspended stillness. The image strips his usual fantasy density down to a single emblem, with the empty space doing most of the work.

Midnight Dream

Midnight Sun released their third album, Midnight Dream, in May 1974 on Sonet.

Niels Brøndsted foregrounds piano and Rhodes while Bent Hesselmann and Peer Frost thread saxophone, flute, and guitar through the shorter songs with enhanced surface detail. Peder Kragerup’s string arrangements widen selected tracks.

The title track and the early sequence lean on that piano-and-sax interplay inside compact verse-and-chorus forms, with the band’s tighter exchanges held in reserve. “Batum” opens a different space through a traditional Swedish theme set in a hazier, more spacious frame.

“Where Ever You Are” carries the album’s longest stretch of instrumental detail: after the vocal section clears, sax rides over an evolving bass line, piano fills the middle, and guitar takes the upper register for a longer release. Across the album, the songs stay concise until those few passages where piano, sax, bass, and guitar pull the material into a broader, more active motion.

A1. “Midnight Dream” (5:02) – Levy, Lauridsen, Skovgaard
A2. “Country Days” (2:10) – Levy, Lauridsen, Brøndsted
A3. “Me and I” (1:53) – Lauridsen, Brøndsted, Nielsen
A4. “Send Me Flowers Every Morning” (3:46) – Lauridsen, Brøndsted
A5. “I’ll Love You, I’ll Leave You” (3:06) – Levy, Brøndsted
A6. “Batum” (4:12) – Traditional; arr. Brøndsted

B1. “The Same Dream” (3:19) – Levy, Lauridsen
B2. “When You Sleep Alone” (4:35) – Levy, Hesselmann
B3. “Where Ever You Are” (8:40) – Lauridsen, Brøndsted
B4. “How I Love You” (4:00) – Lauridsen, Nielsen

Midnight Sun recorded Midnight Dream in October and November 1973 at Ivar Rosenberg Soundtechnic in Copenhagen with co-producer-engineer Freddy Hansson. Sander Nielsen handled the cover, Litoprint printed the sleeve, and Sonet issued the album with a lyric inner sleeve.

Discography: