“We’ll hit the city limits and we’ll leave it behind, be free.“
It is quite incredible how The Midnight have remained a mainstay of the synthwave genre. It’s a genre that emerged in popularity in the past decade, yet despite a swell of popularity at the time, it has perhaps somewhat fizzled out. This isn’t to say we’ve not had some fantastic acts out of it, with the likes of GUNSHIP, French Police, and Makeup And Vanity Set. Yet there are an excess of bands who fell by the wayside, with names such as Empathy Test and FM-84 confined to the history books. Realistically, there was only so much space for saxophone solos and analogue synths in an ’80s style. The Midnight, over time, with tracks such as “Days of Thunder“, “Deep Blue” and “Sunset“, have ensured their stay yet have also become a frontrunner in the synthwave and retrofuture scene.
However, the wobbles have begun to emerge after the dynamic release of Monsters, with its follow-up Heroes passing through, that you’d only really remember after a long scroll through their rather lengthy Spotify release list. The move to arrest the trajectory has been to go back to basics, to an extent. “Shadowverse” showed a return to the production stylings of old and most recent “Runaways“, ticking all the boxes of a classic synthwave track, including a female vocal feature for bonus points. The most eyebrow-raising points going into Syndicate are the sheer length of the record, towering at a run time of eighty-five minutes, making it the longest record from The Midnight.
The opening stretch of Syndicate is genuinely enjoyable whilst leaning on the tropes of the genre. A juicy bridge provided by the saxophone on “Runaways“, with the vocal hook delivered by McKee, makes the mind want to go for a night drive. “The Right Way” cracks out the Miami Vice-styled analogue synths, while “Digital Dreams” creates a Home-styled contemplative track with the addition of The Midnight‘s expansive vocals. The way Lyle’s vocals layer in with the synths, as an almost perfect match for each other, is a mark of why The Midnight are so popular.
Looped lyrics dance around on “Chariot“, where The Midnight lean on more trance influences vocally with electronic beats, akin to something you’d hear within the Cyberpunk 2077 universe. This is followed by a distinctly different cut on “First Night In Paris“, featuring the well-known Carpenter Brut. Both do have that “nightclub” feel, but “First Night In Paris” is very much a Carpenter Brut song from the likes of Trilogy that is fully instrumental, with no vocals from The Midnight at all. The back-to-back of these cuts does give an odd pacing to Syndicate, especially as it drops right into the familiar sounds of The Midnight on “Afterglow pt.2“.
The third and final feature sees “Jupiter Winter” offer a vocal feature, which doesn’t do much to distinct itself from “Runaways“. While the quality is much higher here, there is still an air of the days of the eternal Dana Jean Phoenix features to both. While both offer up solid vocal performances, they don’t have vocals that capture the imagination in a way that Milkie Way did on her feature with GUNSHIP‘s “Dark All Day“. Given the length of the record, bolder features would have been welcomed to break the record up further, which is something that Perturbator has done noticeably well on their upcoming record.
Yet there is also a sense that bold features should perhaps not be needed, that Syndicate is simply too long. As much as synthwave has been consistently a favourite genre for many, being given nearly an hour and a half of it in one go is much more than anyone would ask for. Plenty of cuts here, especially towards the end, just get lost in the shuffle. There is a larger sense to The Midnight, even with their live sets lasting a similar runtime. There is not much towards the end with the likes of “Love Is An Ocean” and “Sanctuary” that really justify Syndicate going so long.
It is perhaps a run-off from that this is clearly a record crafted with letting those who enjoy The Midnight fully embrace their sound, and some more. Full of many of the cues of The Midnight from over the years, aplenty. While the record on the whole does stick to familiar sounds and styles, The Midnight still do a pretty good job at it. It would be easy to criticise them for doing so, yet that’s all many want from the duo, and it’s why they’ve remained such a mainstay of the genre.
7/10
Syndicate is out October 3rd via Ultra Records, and can be pre-ordered here.