Mezzamorphis is the second studio album by Christian rock band Delirious?. Released in 1999, it represented a large step towards a more electronic sound for the band and received a huge critical acclaim.
Mezzamorphis spawned two UK singles, "See the Star" and "It's OK", both of which landed in the top 20 of the UK Singles Charts, whilst the album itself peaked at No. 25 on the UK Album Charts, giving Delirious? their second top 30 album in a row. The album has since been certified silver in the UK. In the US, "Gravity" was released as the lead single in promotion of the album.
Recording and production
Following their breakthrough 1997 album King of Fools, Delirious? started recording Mezzamorphis in February 1998, and continued to record throughout that year, interspersed with summer tours throughout the US and UK. The band began recording with roughly half the songs already written, and continued writing as they recorded. Most of the recording took place in an old school in West Sussex. In the words of lead vocalist Martin Smith, "We turned a classroom into a control room, and there were some wooden rooms where students used to dine, in which we set up a drum kit with different mike positions. We did the bulk of it there for the first six months in between touring. In the end, we went to a smaller studio in Ford just to finish it off." The band used movable drapes to experiment with different drum sounds and reverbs; most of the drums on the album are thus natural and unprocessed.
Formerly known for a sound similar to that of U2, Delirious? aimed for a more dense and electronic sound, taking inspiration from Radiohead. Producer Tedd T was brought in to add aspects of electronica to the production. Recording was finished at a small studio near Littlehampton, putting the final touches on vocals.
The album was mixed by Jack Joseph Puig in Los Angeles early in 1999. In the words of guitarist Stu G, "Martin and I went out to LA in January for three weeks and sat down with him and explained to him what we were doing and where we were coming from, what we were trying to accomplish with the music. He was very perceptive. He definitely took our tracks and made them into something we couldn't have done ourselves." Puig's mixing of the album deepened the bass sound and brought it more of a "club" feel.
Content
As with the previous album, King of Fools, Mezzamorphis is mostly midtempo; notable exceptions include "Bliss" and "Gravity". The new electronic direction taken by the band incorporated a theremin, played by bassist Jon Thatcher; additionally, Stu G used Revox tape delays to create keyboard-like guitar effects. Classical instruments were also included, including a Salvation Army brass band on "It's OK", an upright bass (also played by Thatcher) on "Kiss Your Feet", and a string quartet throughout the album.
While Mezzamorphis is not strictly a concept album, more than one professional reviewer has pointed out that there is a general theme of getting to heaven running through the whole work. The band have confirmed this, and have also pointed out a theme of change. "Heaven", inspired by the troubles in Northern Ireland, ties the two themes of heaven and change together; according to Smith, "we have to come to realize that we come from the dust, yet we believe one day we'll meet Jesus. In the meantime, we're caught between two worlds. Heaven is my home."
The first track, "Mezzanine Floor", is the change-oriented centrepiece of the album, written about the musical growth of the band. According to Stu G, "we feel that we're at a point where we've left where we were, but we're not yet where we believe we're going to end up. So, we're on the way, in the middle, on the mezzanine floor." "Metamorphis", written solely by Stu G, further explores this theme of change. The name of the album is a mixture of the names of these two tracks (see metamorphosis and mezzanine).