Music: The Midnight
Jamison Tyler Lyle, a Southern songwriter, and Tim Daniel McEwan, a Danish producer, are the two halves that combine to form the synthwave musical duo The Midnight. The band lives by the motto “Mono no aware.” Which translates to the sad beauty of seeing time pass and the awareness that nothing lasts forever. These days can only be remembered through our memories.
Since 2012 they’ve produced three studio albums, two collaborative albums, three EPs, and countless singles and remixes. Having garnered a substantial loyal fanbase, the band has since reached the #1 spot of the Billboard Electronic Album Chart and have had numerous sold-out shows. The creation of a vibrant dreamy landscape of vulnerability through their music has led to a growing online following.
The Midnight have established themselves firmly within the retrowave scene. Retrowave (also known as synthwave) is driven by the beloved aesthetic and trends of the 80’s and 90’s. There’s specifically an influence from sci-fi and horror film soundtracks of that time. The retrowave movement continues to thrive as pop-culture nostalgia is higher than ever. Netflix originals like Stranger Things are aiding in perpetuating this, making audiences long for a decade they may never have experienced.
When asked about why they chose synthwave music, McEwan explained, “I’ve always been drawn to the bittersweet, nostalgic, uplifting but slightly melancholic chord progressions. I grew up with 80’s music so the aesthetic was kind of natural to me. It was like finding something you knew you could go all out with – where it was okay to just be over the top.”
Meanwhile, Lyle added, “my songwriting comes from a more narrative country Nashville pop writing sensibilities and it was my writing exercise to write images. With the synth sound – the aesthetic is so specific the images are kind of already there, you just put them in the right place.”
The Midnight's latest project is a 5 song EP entitled Horror Show, which is streaming exclusively on Amazon Music. Aptly released during the month of Halloween, Horror Show is a further exploration of their favored genre - call it synthpop, chillwave, retrowave - it goes by many names. The sound manages to capture past nostalgia whilst feeling like imagined visions of the future. Lyle’s vocals sound more evocative than ever, musing eerie lyrics that match the EP title in tone.
Their third studio album Monsters was also recently released on July 10, 2020. Thematic elements of the album include romance and nostalgia inspired by 80's style synthwave. In an ICON VS interview, The Midnight confirmed Monsters follows their previous album Kids, which centers on the tumultuous experience of adolescence and alienation from a teenager's perspective. Both Kids and Monsters will be part of a trilogy they are planning. The band sums up the theme of the album by expressing “Adolescence is messy, tragic, brutal, wistful, and beautiful. MONSTERS is all of that.”
Horror Show streaming exclusively on Amazon Music
Horror Show @Amazon
Instagram: The Midnight
Official Website: The Midnight Website
Label: Counter Records
