EP REVIEW: Into The Night – Midnight Swim
Into The Night is the debut EP by Mancunian pop-rock band MIDNIGHT SWIM. With six songs, it’s closer to a short album than the standard three-four track EP, but it works. Coming in at just over 23 minutes, the EP is the perfect length to give a taster of the band and their sound, but still leave listeners curious for more.
Opening the record is Tastes Like Summer, a feel good pop-rock anthem reminiscent of the summers where bands like 5 SECONDS OF SUMMER dominated the charts with a similar sound. Whilst pop rock is known to have a collective repetitive sound with the Tom DeLonge patented vocal tones, MIDNIGHT SWIM manage to stick within the genre but still have some semblance of uniqueness about them. They have got the catchy rhythm down pat, with plenty of ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ that the audience can join along with even if they don’t know the lyrics yet – always a smart choice to stay memorable.
Chemical is the most memorable track on the EP, but not actually for the content. Whilst, yes, the song is technically good and very catchy, it’s very hard to ignore the fact that the opening sound is 99% like the opening tone from The Simpsons‘ opening credits. It’s a fun easter egg, and hard to ignore once spotted. Aside from The Simpsons, the song itself is a fun one; it’s dancey, it has a fun beat and it has a strong build and bridge within it to set it apart from other monotonous pop-punk tracks that get released.
Vocalist Jack Valentine is the main part of MIDNIGHT SWIM that feels ‘different’ for the genre. Their higher pitched tone and strong head voice are a welcome change from the usually monotone sound. Specifically in the track Take Me Home, the singing is reminiscent of Sam Ryder and his unique vocal sound, which is definitely a good comparison to draw.
One Track Mind is the track from the album that fits the ‘single’ stereotype; it’s catchy, it’s strong, and it has a variety of soft and strong vocals to keep listeners interested in where it might turn next. Overall, the instrumentals are very much what you expect when someone says the genre ‘pop rock’ – they’re melodic, catchy and have a strong beat with the occasional bursts of power behind them. If you like pop rock, then you will definitely like this release as it fits right in.
The drum run from Alex Binnington at the beginning of Run is a key example of the technical talent housed within the band, although unfortunately there isn’t too much that is unique about the instrumentals in general – but it will get their foot in the door and build a fanbase so that they can start to experiment and grow in the future. No band comes out with a perfect first EP that they will sound like for the rest of their career. This is a promising EP for future musical growth. For a band emerging after a pandemic on limited resources and restricted touring prospects, Into The Night is a well-rounded release.
Rating: 6/10
Into The Night is out now via self-release.
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