Midnight Shine is back with “Lonely Boy”

After a few clicks of the drumsticks, Midnight Shine waste no time in launching into their anthemic new single “Lonely Boy,” one of the cornerstone tracks of their 2018 smash High Road, and against the backdrop of a galloping bassline and similarly stampeding percussive section dish out one of the most gorgeously magnetizing string melodies that I’ve had the pleasure of listening to this month. There’s a lot of urgency in their play, but there’s nothing rushed about their performance – the second that singer Adrian Sutherland starts to croon in his trademark smoky vocal, any and all allusions to the familiar swing of classic rock ends, and in their place a unique tonality washes over everyone and everything within earshot of the grooves. “Lonely Boy” isn’t the most experimental song that you’ll hear in pop/rock at the moment, nor does it seek to change the game for the band that created it – all of that said, what it does tell us about Midnight Shine and the direction they’re taking their music in is chill-inducing, even for listeners who haven’t heard the group’s work in the past.

The music video for “Lonely Boy” is a rare example of the inspired aesthetically eclipsing inspiration itself. While this track as we hear it on High Road is stunningly evocative and charming, it takes on a much deeper meaning when juxtaposed with the positive paternal imagery that we see in the video. Sutherland has a lot on his mind that he’s trying to sort through from behind the microphone, and without the visual experience to contextualize his emotions, I think that this song would be a lot more multi-interpretive than it is here.

Midnight Shine didn’t just make a music video that tops what most journalists – myself included – had hoped to see out of their latest work, but they in fact produced an extension of a song that was already quite stirring and emotional to begin with. They’re firing on all cylinders and, for all intents and purposes, solidifying a reputation that they made for themselves three albums ago. I’m sure that this won’t be the last occasion on which their name is gracing indie headlines, and once you see the video for yourself, I’ve got a feeling you’re going to agree with me.

PRIMARY URL: https://midnightshineonline.com/

I had heard the music of Midnight Shine in small doses before getting a pre-release copy of “Lonely Boy” at the behest of a Canadian colleague, but to say that I am now officially addicted to their sound would be, for lack of better phrase, an absurdly crude understatement. This group, led by Mr. Adrian Sutherland, is developing a strain of modern rock that I could only wish to find in America right now, and provided they continue to record with the same passion and unchecked adrenaline that they are at the moment, I think that fortune will find them at home and abroad. I know I’ll be keeping tabs on their journey, and I would highly recommend that all devoted music buffs try to do the same.

Mindy McCall