In his new single, The Midnight Greetings builds a sonic tableau over a head-bobbing bassline, an unswaying drumbeat, and some of his best singing to date. A thing of utter beauty.
Shit. The guy’s 22. I mean, what were you doing when you were 22?
I don’t mean, like, what your life goals were, or where you see yourself in a decade’s time. That’s a fine age to be to be aiming for anything, after all.
But neither am I prescribing unchecked early-20s debauchery as a route for everyone. We can all agree, though: It’s the age of listlessness, of vacillation, of the mud-like malleability of relative youth.
Except 22-year-old Kyle Maraton channels that thing differently, into an ironically lethargic ball of kinetic energy. In his new track as The Midnight Greetings, “Spinning,” he builds a sonic tableau over a head-bobbing bassline and an unswaying drumbeat.
Maraton sings his heart out in it, too, which in TMG’s world means not singing your heart out at all. And it’s this newfangled understated vulnerability that renders his songs more heartbreaking.
“Spinning” careens close to the tender stupor of The Verve’s Urban Hymns material, or the earlier, more decidedly lo-fi output of The Radio Dept., though Maraton takes more after bands like The Smiles and Broadcast in terms of flavor. But its distinct melancholy—ungraspable, unc0untable, incalculable—remains singularly his, and I can’t quite put my finger on how or why.
“Play the music loud / let it hit the wall / till my world would stop spinning,” the man sings, and it doesn’t shriek and wail; it just…is. Beautifully layered and tastefully textured, “Spinning” is refreshing in its utter lack of hipster sardonicism. It’s just good singing married with sublime, cyclical playing, with a helping of sound design as cherry.
“To anyone who’ll listen to this track, if you’re going through something or if you’re confused on what to do with your life. It’s okay, you’re not alone. Don’t be afraid to try new things,” Maraton shares in a statement, and I tend to agree.
Why wouldn’t I?
Get “Spinning” spinning (nay, streaming) now.