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Currently home to 141 pages of neon-soaked dreams.

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News

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29th October, 2024

Tour - The Midnight are announced as part of the lineup for the 2025 Tecate Pal Norte music festival in Monterrey, Mexico. The Midnight will perform on April 4, the first day of the festival.

18th October, 2024

Tour - The Chrome Nights North American Tour concludes in Denver.

4th October, 2024

Music - The Midnight's remix of Lost And Found by Chromeo is released. The remix is included on the deluxe edition of Chromeo's album Adult Contemporary.

1st October, 2024

Merch - The Midnight: Shadows graphic novel is released.

6th September, 2024

Music - Chariot is released as a single.

5th September, 2024

Tour - The Chrome Nights North American Tour begins in Vancouver.

15th July, 2024

Music - Days of Thunder was released 10 years ago on this day. Happy 10th anniversary to The Midnight!

18th June, 2024

Tour - A London show has been added to the Summer 2024 EU/UK Tour. The show will be at Electric Ballroom on July 22.

Archived news

Did You Know?

• ...that for five years Comet was nothing more than a small snippet on Facebook before finally being released in 2021?
• ...that Tim McEwan once played drums in the Eurovison Song Contest?
• ...that The Midnight Remixed was the band's first album to be associated with a label and appear on a Billboard chart?
• ...that Lost Boy was featured in an episode of 13 Reasons Why?
• ...that The Midnight played 77 shows in 2019, which is the most in one year since they began touring?
• ...that Tyler Lyle once lived in Paris?
• ...that the voice in the intro of River of Darkness is from a guy named Eric?
• ...that planning for The Midnight's graphic novel Shadows began in 2020, four years before its release?
• ...that Nighthawks and Lonely City were once one combined song?
• ...that the subject of Nighthawks is a former neighbor of Tyler Lyle?

Now Playing

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Lost Boy's Polaroids

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From The Floppy Disk

Tyler Lyle

Lyle in 2022

Tyler Lyle
Lyle performing live with The Midnight in 2022
Background information
Birth name	Jamison Tyler Lyle
Born	(1985-12-01) December 1, 1985 Carrollton, Georgia, U.S.
Genres	Folk Americana World Country
Occupation(s)	Singer songwriter record producer
Instrument(s)	Vocals guitar
Years active	2007–present
Member of	The Midnight Smith, Lyle, and Moore
Website	tylerlyle.com

Jamison Tyler Lyle (born December 1, 1985) is an American musician who is the primary guitarist, vocalist, and lyricist for The Midnight.

Born and raised in rural Georgia, Lyle began his career in music as a young adult and became regionally known after winning a songwriting contest in 2010. This led to the self-release of his debut album, gaining him national exposure, and he also began writing for other artists.

Lyle moved to Los Angeles in 2011, and in 2012 his A&R representative arranged for him to meet Danish producer Tim McEwan for a songwriting session. The two had an instant connection and began making music. Lyle and McEwan became a duo known as The Midnight and self-released their first extended play (EP) in 2014 and have continuously released new music since.

Outside of The Midnight, Lyle continues to release solo work and regularly tours around the United States. In 2016, he began a semi-regular podcast titled From The Secret Lair that includes music and self-commentary. He is married and has one child.

Early life

Lyle was born and raised in Carrollton, Georgia, the son of Mark and Deborah Lyle. His father is also a musician and is the house-guitarist for the George Britt Band, who plays at the Lowell Opry House in Carrollton.

Lyle was frequently around music growing up, being exposed to the musical genres of Country, Gospel, Bluegrass, and Classic rock. His dad was the music minister at the family's church, and he grew up singing in the choir. After initially having no interest in a music career as a child, Lyle began playing the guitar in high school, learning tabs from his father and online.

Lyle attended college at Asbury University in Kentucky for one year before transferring to Georgia State University, earning a degree in philosophy in 2008. After college, he used some money from a student loan to move to Prague and got certified to teach English as a foreign language. He then relocated to Paris and began attending Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines University to satisfy the requirements for his student visa. When he wasn't working as a teacher or taking classes, Lyle performed at various bars and pubs around the city and began writing more music. He later returned to Georgia in 2009 to begin a music career. To support himself, he worked a variety of odd jobs including roofing, landscaping, food delivery, and advertising.

Career

Beginnings as a solo musician

Lyle performing at home in 2010

Lyle self-released his first album in 2007 and later released an EP in 2009. He would gain larger exposure in June 2010 after winning the Open Mic Shootout at the music club Eddie's Attic in Decatur, Georgia. Previous winners of the contest include John Mayer, Clay Cook, and Jennifer Nettles. Lyle performed four original songs at the event: Closer to Me, Pretty Lady, Nashville, and The Secret. He used the $1000 cash prize from the contest to fund the creation of the album The Golden Age & The Silver Girl, which released the following year in July. The entire album was recorded in just one day and it was later recognized by NPR World Café as one of the top albums of 2011.

Right after he finished making his debut album, Lyle moved to California to be closer to a new manager he had started working with, and he later signed a publishing deal with Pulse Recordings. He lived in an old house in Laurel Canyon that once belonged to Fleetwood Mac member Christine McVie before moving to an apartment by the beach in Santa Monica with a roommate from college. Lyle continued self-releasing music throughout 2012 and 2013, and in 2013 he was the recipient of the Harald Adamson Lyric Award for pop music from the ASCAP Foundation. During this time, he continued making occasional appearances at Eddie's Attic and toured throughout the country with other musicians, additionally playing shows at several music festivals including SXSW, Noise Pop, and MusicfestNW.

Lyle has said that his musical influences include Paul Simon, Garth Brooks, and his father Mark.

The Midnight

Lyle performing live with The Midnight

In 2012, Lyle met Tim McEwan at a songwriter’s workshop in North Hollywood arranged by his A&R representative Katie Donovan. Bonding over a mutual love of 80's rock, they began writing songs together and at McEwan’s suggestion based their sound on 80’s synth. The first song they wrote was WeMoveForward, and their first release as a duo under The Midnight moniker came in July 2014 with the extended play Days of Thunder. Lyle serves as the band's primary vocalist and guitarist is credited with writing the majority of the band’s lyrics. He has been the main vocalist in every The Midnight song containing vocals except for Synthetic and Comet, which were sung by McEwan. Many of The Midnight's songs have their roots in songs originally written and released by Lyle on one of his albums or his podcast, From The Secret Lair.

Regarding his approach to writing for The Midnight, Lyle has said:

I write The Midnight lyrically (mostly) as the fantasy that I never experienced. I lean a bit utopian sometimes and let the images get grander than I experienced. I was on the debate team. I had a lisp. I was really into Syphon Filter. The fun is in the make believe.

I write everyday. Some of it goes in The Midnight folder. Some of it goes off into far far away places. It works best when Tim has a cool musical skeleton and I have a cool lyrical skeleton we can smush together and build together.

Continued solo work and other ventures

Lyle performing at a solo show

Outside of The Midnight, Lyle continues to record and tour as a solo artist. Most recently, he embarked on a four show tour in the US in 2022 and his latest album, The Transcendentalists Part One, was released in June 2023. Not long after his move to Los Angeles, Lyle formed with Andrew Smith and Jack Moore the group Smith, Lyle, and Moore, whose first EP was released in August 2020. In 2012, he co-wrote two songs for Court Yard Hounds that appeared on their album Amelita. His songs have been heard on the US television shows Hart of Dixie, Private Practice, and Gossip Girl.

In January 2016, he began a monthly podcast titled From The Secret Lair. Each episode generally consists of around three to six songs accompanied with commentary by Lyle. The discussions touch on several topics, including his methods as a musician, sources of inspiration, philosophy, literature, and his southern upbringing. The first season featured 23 episodes that were recorded from his apartment in Brooklyn, New York. The second season began in November 2020 and ran for eight episodes, with production moved to his home studio in Atlanta, Georgia. The third season began in April 2023 and had nine episodes.

Personal life

Outside of music, Lyle's interests include books, Tarot card reading, philosophy, and bourbon/whiskey. In September 2014, he married Anna Jimenez. Jimenez contributed backing vocals to The Midnight's song Los Angeles. Previously residing in Southern California and New York City, the Lyles now live in Atlanta, Georgia with their son, Beau.

References

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External links

• Official website
• Twitter
• Instagram
• Bandcamp

Click the heading above to read more!

Explorers

"Explorers"
Explorers promotional cover
Song by The Midnight
from the album Kids
Released	September 21, 2018 (2018-09-21)
Length	4:16
Label	The Midnight Music
Songwriter(s)	Tim McEwan Tyler Lyle
Producer(s)	Tim McEwan
Kids track listing
Kids "Youth" "Wave" "Kids (Prelude)" "Lost Boy" "Saturday Mornings (Interlude)" "Explorers" "America 2" "Arcade Dreams" "Kids (Reprise)"

Explorers is a song by The Midnight. It is the sixth track from their album Kids.

The song was written by band members Tim McEwan and Tyler Lyle and produced by McEwan. It has a running time of four minutes and 16 seconds and is in the key of G major.

Although Explorers was not released as a single, artwork for the song was created by Aaron Campbell, who also designed the other artwork for Kids. This suggests that Explorers may have been planned as a single at some point.

Explorers is featured in the video game The Sims 4: Realm of Magic, with new vocals recorded in the game's Simlish language. It was also one of the four songs whose stems were made available to download during the first The Midnight Remix Radio competition.

Lyrics

To the freedom fighters, to the everest climbers, to the castaways
To the midnight riders, to the spark igniters, I am on my way
Let it be said, and let it be known,
he who is free is never alone
The path before us, the world behind us
I’ll wait for you there

To the lost ark raiders, to the lion tamers, to the stowaway
To the white tide chaser, to the black flag raiser, I’m on my way

Let it be said, and let it be known,
he who is free is never alone
The path before us, the world behind us
I’ll wait for you there

There’s a song that sailors know
Lost, alone and far from home
Golden gallions. golden guns
And find that place under the sun

There’s a song on the Sahara wind
That lifts you to your feet again

That dances on the clockwork stars
That pulses through a beating heart

Lyrics source

Official versions

Explorers

from Kids

Explorers (Instrumental)

from Kids (The Instrumentals)

References

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Click the heading above to read more!

Kids

This template is about the album. For the songs, see Kids (Prelude) and Kids (Reprise).

Kids
Album by The Midnight
Released	September 21, 2018
Genre	Synthwave
Length	33:51
Label	The Midnight Music
Producer	Tim McEwan
The Midnight chronology
Nocturnal (2017) Kids (2018) The Midnight Remixed 02 (2019)
Singles from Kids
"Lost Boy" Released: July 13, 2018 "America 2" Released: August 3, 2018 "Arcade Dreams" Released: September 7, 2018

Kids is the third album by The Midnight. It was released independently by the band on September 21, 2018, and was preceded by the release of three singles: Lost Boy, America 2, and Arcade Dreams.

Background and composition

The Midnight's previous album Nocturnal featured a distinctive dark and noir sound. For the next album, Tim McEwan expressed a desire to move away from this sound and create music that was more upbeat and happy but still had some hints of sadness. Inspired by the television show Stranger Things and the idea of living in the memories of childhood, McEwan called Tyler Lyle the day after the release of Nocturnal and shared this vision with him. Lyle was receptive to the idea, and thus the process of creating Kids began.

One of the first public mentions of a new release came during a November 2017 interview with Vehlinggo shortly after the release of Nocturnal. McEwan revealed that a new and more "summer feeling" EP was in development and planned for release in the spring or summer of 2018. Giving an early hint at the theme, he stated, “I like to think about it as what the kids from Stranger Things are listening to when they’re not chasing monsters.” The band said on social media in March 2018 that the next album would be "dedicated to the disaffected youth." In May, more info about the new album's direction and theme were shared, with the band stating the "the opening track on our next album is gonna hit you right in the feels" and that it would be their most ambitious album to date - the most challenging so far for McEwan as a producer. They also stated that "A lot of the tracks on our new album are dedicated to late nights on the Internet."

Kids trailer

On July 2, 2018, it was announced on the band's social media that a new single was imminent. On July 6, a small snippet of the single's artwork was shown and a release date of July 13 was given. The next day, the single was confirmed to be Lost Boy and the full artwork was revealed on July 11. On July 28, another single was teased. On August 1, the second single was revealed to be America 2 and was slated for an August 3 release. More songs were hinted at on August 11, and on August 16 Kids was officially revealed with a video trailer. The trailer played a small snippet from Kids (Reprise) and gave a release date of September 21 for the album. On September 5, Arcade Dreams was announced as the third and final single from Kids and was released on September 7.

Kids was officially released on September 21, 2018. Despite receiving more mixed reviews compared to previous The Midnight releases, Kids was a successful release for the band commercially, debuting at number one on the Billboard Dance/Electronic Album Sales chart with week one sales of 2000 copies. It also charted at number 12 on the Dance/Electronic Albums chart, number two on the Heatseekers Albums chart, and number 13 on the Independent Albums chart.

The title Kids was suggested early in development by McEwan, with Lyle also approving of the name. At the time, he and his wife Anna were expecting their first child. The first song created for Kids was Lost Boy, an old track of The Midnight's that had been written back in 2015 with Finnish DJ Lenno Linjama. The song was originally titled In The Dark and had a more house feel compared to the final version. Although the band liked the track, they felt it wouldn't have fit well on Nocturnal and held the song out for a future release instead. Deciding to use the song for Kids, McEwan took the original demo and rebuilt the song, doubling the tempo and running the melody and beats in half-time. In the words of McEwan, Lost Boy would be a table-setter for the rest of Kids, which the band considers to be their first "theme" album. The album was originally planned to be longer with more tracks, but it was decided to shorten the release to reduce Lyle's workload while he was caring for his newborn son. The band eventually decided to make Kids the first release in a trilogy series of albums, which would be followed by Monsters and Heroes.

The artwork for Kids was designed by Aaron Campbell, who also designed all the artwork for the album's singles as well. The date on the album art for Kids, October 18, 1985, is a reference to the North American launch of the Nintendo Entertainment System.

Singles

Lost Boy
July 13, 2018

America 2
August 3, 2018

Arcade Dreams
September 7, 2018

Track listing

All tracks are written by Tim McEwan and Tyler Lyle except for Lost Boy, which was written by Tyler Lyle, Tim McEwan, and Lenno Linjama.

Kids

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Youth"	3:09
2.	"Wave"	4:31
3.	"Kids (Prelude)"	2:13
4.	"Lost Boy"	4:37
5.	"Saturday Mornings (Interlude)"	0:57
6.	"Explorers"	4:16
7.	"America 2"	4:01
8.	"Arcade Dreams"	4:03
9.	"Kids (Reprise)"	6:04
Total length:		33:51

Release history and variants

Digital release history for Kids

Date	Edition
September 21, 2018	Standard
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October 30, 2018	Instrumentals
Only includes songs that had vocals on the original release.
April 2, 2021	Stems
Contains the nine songs from the album denoted with BPMs plus 99 stem parts comprising all songs except for Kids (Prelude) and Saturday Mornings (Interlude). The stems are not royalty free but projects and remixes made with them are allowed to be used on non-monetized platforms.

Physical release history for Kids

Year	Format	Color/Design
2018	Cassette	Transparent Purple
First tape variant. Color also referred to as pink.
2018	CD	-
Original release included a set of four postcards of artwork from Kids and its singles. One postcard in each set was signed by Tim and Tyler.
2018	LP	Midnight Magenta
First vinyl variant. Preorders began prior to album release and started shipping in October. Saturday Mornings (Interlude) is not listed on the tracklist but is still present at the beginning of side B. After the initial run sold out, there was not a repress until late 2022.
2022	Cassette	Transparent Green
Second tape variant. Color also referred to as "seafoam green".
2024	LP	Transparent Pink
Second vinyl variant.

References

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Click the heading above to read more!