Luc Van Acker, Pas De Deux

𝘼 𝙙𝙤𝙪𝙗𝙡𝙚-𝘼𝘼 𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚 𝙣𝙪𝙜𝙜𝙚𝙩 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙡𝙮 𝙥𝙖𝙞𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙗𝙮 𝙎𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙤𝙢. 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙬𝙚𝙚𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙝𝙖𝙡𝙛 ‘𝘾𝙖𝙧𝙙𝙞𝙤𝙘𝙡𝙚𝙥𝙩𝙤𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙚’ 𝙝𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝘽-𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙖 𝟭𝟵𝟴𝟯 𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙡𝙚 𝟳” 𝙞𝙨𝙨𝙪𝙚𝙙 𝙗𝙮 𝙤𝙣𝙚-𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙀𝙪𝙧𝙤𝙫𝙞𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙨 𝙋𝙖𝙨 𝘿𝙚 𝘿𝙚𝙪𝙭 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙝𝙖𝙡𝙛 𝙝𝙖𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙡𝙚𝙜𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙖𝙧𝙮 𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙨𝙩 𝙇𝙪𝙘 𝙑𝙖𝙣 𝘼𝙘𝙠𝙚𝙧, 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙞𝙨 𝙢𝙖𝙮𝙗𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙖𝙨 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙙𝙪𝙘𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙮 𝙩𝙤 𝙁𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙩 𝟮𝟰𝟮, 𝙈𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙮, 𝙍𝙚𝙫𝙤𝙡𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝘾𝙤𝙘𝙠𝙨, 𝘼𝙣𝙣𝙖 𝘿𝙤𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙤, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙋𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙡𝙥𝙝𝙞𝙖 𝙁𝙞𝙫𝙚’𝙨 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙢𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩.

‘Cardiocleptomanie’, which one can roughly translate as stealing hearts, is a fine title for this winsome synth-pop shanty typically revolving the sort of minimalist lyrical phrasing that would make up the trio’s Eurovision entry of the same year, that ended up 3rd from last but was nevertheless a big domestic hit. Belgians do it their own way.

Creeping at a typically slow Belgian tempo ‘The Fear in My Heart’ was originally the A-side of a 12” in 1983 and later appeared on expanded editions of Van Acker’s 1984 album ‘The Ship’ with contemporaneous material. It’s an epitome of his taut, moody production style and songwriting, crooning on sleazy bassline and bell chime synths, and makes for a fine one-two with Pas De Deux’s reflections on matters of the ‘art.