Above image via Spotify: The Midnight
Giovanni Mori | Posted March 4th, 2025
Have you ever needed a song to speak to you when you feel like you’re at your lowest? Or what about a new theme for your villain arc making you feel like you’re the baddest in the room? Or what if you simply just need a boost of energy for the day? Look no further than The Midnight, an EDM synthwave band pushing musical boundaries with six studio albums since their first major release in 2014. Our favorite tune, “Shadows”, is the first track from their third album, Nocturnal, released in 2017.
When you press the play button, the song’s beginning has a way of closing your eyes as it sets the scene in your mind, you picture yourself in a city-like environment as you hear footsteps walking down a long alleyway with rain tapping on the hard concrete, rumbling car engines racing down the street, and distant police sirens. The track then opens your eyes to an eerie and hypnotic synth melody, signifying the official start of the song as low bass notes are included to hold all the building blocks together. A full band sound comes in, and the listener is gifted more synth sounds and drums adding momentum to the main progression.
The vocals in “Shadows” are soft and the melody feels like a lullaby, sending chills up your spine underneath the dark instrumental. The lyrics place us in a fictional character’s shoes as each stanza describes a shadow that follows him. The shadow feels like a metaphor for some kind of internal pain or depression, but the concrete lyrics make it come to life for the listener with lines like “Up from the dirty black water, a shadow void of form, raised itself out of the river, and it climbed upon the shore” (1:46 – 1:57). Later in the song, we find how this shadow also has an effect on the character’s relationships with lines like “I don’t know why I do it, I apologize but it’s too late, a single tear and you leave me here, and the shadow slips away” (3:48 – 3:58).
When all the instruments suddenly fade, we’re taken to a memorable pre-chorus section fans have grown to love, while new listeners are lifted gracefully into the air as the vocalist belts “Shadows in the city, I’m a stranger to myself, on these streets I’m someone else…like a demon in the dark, come to tear us apart” (2:46 – 3:08). This section builds for some time and makes you eager for more, and when all goes quiet, the vocal line echoes as we reach the song’s explosive climax, giving the listener a sudden burst of energy waiting to be released from the first second of the six and a half minute track.
“Shadows” repeats this structure before coming out of left field with a saxophone solo mimicking the song’s vocal melody. Longtime fans agree the woodwind instrument proves to be an excellent addition to The Midnight’s sound throughout their discography, and “Shadows” is no exception.
When the track fades in its final seconds, the listener is guaranteed to come back for more for when they reach another low point in their lives, or when they just want to feel cool. Listen to the full song below!
Youtube: The Midnight
Sources
The Midnight. “Shadows.” Nocturnal, The Midnight Music LLC, 2017. Spotify app.
“The Midnight – Shadows (Official Audio)” Youtube, uploaded by The Midnight, 14 Feb 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_14cb1xCY-4
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