Midnight: “Music has to evolve, you can’t feel safe” | music | entertainment

The Midnight just released their fourth full-length album, and its fans may feel it’s going to turn things around — but they shouldn’t worry.

Their previous entry—Monsters 2020—was a darker exploration of the band’s creativity, released at the unexpectedly perfect time: just as the pandemic was getting worse. Influenced by teen angst, fans took advantage of the ruthlessness of the record before things really turned around the world.

“Champions” continues to tap into the undeniable emotional and emotional strength of the band once again – but this time with a softer touch. Now, The Midnight sympathetically plays and is at the forefront of their songwriting.

Speaking exclusively to Express.co.uk, the musicians have opened up about the songwriting process over the past few years, and how their message has fundamentally changed. “We’re all grieving over something,” Lyle said backstage at Kingston in Prism in May, just hours before their UK tour began in earnest. “And it’s important for us to be here together at this time.”

Read the review on HEROES here

Lyle tells me that the running theme in “Champions” is: being together. The 13-track album is not only The Midnight’s response to the pandemic, but to the struggles, trauma, and grief their fans have been experiencing over the past two years as well. Singer-songwriter Americana, as the band’s lead writer, explored the story of “Heroes” with a simple question: “Everyone is going through tough times. [and] We’re All Connected – How Can We Get Through It? “

“It was very important for us to make something that looked like something we wanted to do, a group experiment,” McEwan explained. “That was number one on our checklist.”

Conceptually, “Heroes” is a massive shift in tone when compared to the band’s previous work. But Lyle and McEwan were already aware of that. After dropping their first single, “Change Your Heart or Die”, they started seeing fans look their blank on the internet. They laughed at the fans who announced that this was their “new sound”. In fact, the stars revealed that they don’t really think about their music within specific parameters. Lyle believes this new “trend” can be seen as more than a guide for listeners. Perhaps as a way to focus their introspection and use it to help others.

“Champions are this need to connect,” Lyle said. “The stage of the individual where he transforms self-love into compassion. It is very important for us to take this leap from ‘It’s all about me’ to ‘We are all heroes.’

The movie “Heroes” is clearly a blueprint for people to connect, heal wounds and move on. Musically, McEwan pushed the album in some interesting ways. He likened his creative process on the record to “playing in the sandbox”. Visibly influenced by his brilliant new music, McEwan said these pieces “can be played in a room full of people, and everyone sings at the top of their voice.”

It is as if they were written and composed as a hymn of defiance against history. “Change your heart or die” is a good example of this; A fun, crunchy fun time under the microscope of some classic ’80s hair metal (McEwan mentioned bands like Def Leppard as a distant inspiration).

McEwan has obviously been settling in the band for a while, but Lyle admitted that he’s recently, really, started to thrive in the band. “It took me a long time to find my footing in this project,” he explained, referring to The Midnight. “It started a lot in Tim’s lane as a producer, and I was there to loan the top lines… It was kind of Tim’s pet project.”

It wasn’t until creating the second part of his EP – “Nocturnal” of 2017 – that Lyle began throwing himself into music a little more.

“I started writing more songs that focused on songs,” Lyle recalls. Of course, since then, The Midnight has released a slew of tracks that feature Lyle more or less prominently or even have him perform more or less as a solo. Now, working alongside McEwan (apparently) for the first time, Lyle is eager to see where The Midnight could really go. But that doesn’t mean Lyle forced any changes in the band – quite the contrary.

Midnight music has changed dramatically over the past ten years. Their ambiance was once synonymous with a certain type of music during the era of ‘Thunder Days’ and ‘Endless Summer’. But they are evolving. They seem to leave genre definitions to artists trying to copy their work.

Fans have seen these changes over the years in the releases of “Monsters”, “Kids” and “Endless Summer”; Subtle movements in gradient directions to keep them creative and free.

Will these constant changes deter fans of The Midnight as they age? Probably. Is Lyle and McEwan worried about that?

McEwan smiled, “No.” “I think it always [a decision to change music styles] But I don’t think the fan base should be the guiding compass for the band’s creative direction – I think that’s a slippery slope. I guess you know what works… but I don’t think we ever think: ‘They’ [the fans] They’ll hate it, so we shouldn’t do that.”

Midnight will likely receive some harsh criticism on “Heroes” (just as all new bands do). But given the criticism they’ve received because of their previous record, McEwan noted, “I think ‘Monsters’ has alienated people who were expecting another ‘Night’ song, maybe, but this album is already there! It’s fun going back to a familiar place – we’ll always be a part From the Synthwave community – but it’s also fun venturing into new uncharted territory. And I think it’s important to go beyond where you feel safe.”

“Heroes” is definitely unsafe territory for the band, creatively, but it seems like a natural move to them. That’s sexy.

What’s even more exciting is that The Midnight has already started making plans for their fifth album. While McEwan and Lyle didn’t give any details, the latter raised what might be coming the way next.

McEwan quipped: “We’re starting to think about timelines and…we’re always in the creative process, so you naturally think about the new thing as it comes out. We’ve lived with [“Heroes”] It’s been over a year now and that’s been done for a while. Naturally, we move on to the next thing. But, for now, the couple wants listeners to know a few important things when going to ‘Champions’ for the first time.

Lyle echoed the heart-wrenching lyrics of “Heartbeat”: “Enough Love.” McEwan agreed: “Love is not a finite resource. The more you give, the more you get back.”

“[We want our fans to know] They are lovable and deserve the life they lead… That sounds cheesy, but I mean it! It was very trying [time]Not only in the last couple of years, but certainly in America. People, myself included, have experienced problems with mental health, emotional well-being, physical well-being…and on this album, we tried to lend a helping hand.”

Lyle added that they are not only extending a hand of support, but Midnight are giving “champions” to their fans. “It’s theirs too,” he said. “Once he was introduced to the world, and we are so grateful to have them as fans

Midnight – “Heroes” is out now.