A collection of unreleased Marvin Gaye recordings has surfaced in Belgium.
According to a report by the BBC, which arrives on the 40th anniversary of Gaye's tragic death, the previously unheard material includes 30 projects and 66 demos the Motown legend recorded while in the country during the early ’80s.
Gaye left the tapes with Charles Dumolin, a Belgian musician who hosted the "Sexual Healing" singer at his home in Ostend. A lawyer representing Dumolin, who passed away in 2019, is working with the late singer's family to determine who owns the recordings.
“They belong to [the family] because they were left in Belgium 42 years ago,” attorney Alex Trappeniers told BBC. “Marvin gave it to them and said, ‘Do whatever you want with it’ and he never came back. That’s important.”
Dumolin's family is hoping to avoid a legal battle with Gaye's estate by honoring the Prince of Soul with a time capsule centered around the material.
“We can open a time capsule here and share the music of Marvin with the world,” Trappeniers shared. “It’s very clear. He’s very present.”
Trappeniers added that some of the songs are on par with one of Gaye's final hits.
"A few of them are complete and a few of them are as good as ‘Sexual Healing’, because it was made in the same time," he shared. "There was one song that when I listened to it for 10 seconds I found the music was in my head all day, the words were in my head all day, like a moment of planetary alignment."
Gaye's family has been made aware of the discovery, though they have yet to make a formal statement on the matter.
