MALAYSIAN indie-pop sensation Midnight Fusic have finally dropped their highly anticipated debut album.
The self-titled album, which released on February 5, is the culmination of two years of production work, from start to finish.
Cutting across multiple genres, the album contains 14 tracks, combining some new songs and previous fan favourites, that takes listeners on a roller coaster ride of emotions, from the downright poignant, to headbanging numbers to suit every mood.
“While fans will definitely recognise a slight change of direction in terms of the mix of genres, we did not stray far from sounding like Midnight Fusic,” the band said in a statement.
The album features four brand-new tracks consisting of 'Am I In the Right Mind?', 'How Will I Know', 'Take You There', and 'Think About'.
For the uninitiated, Midnight Fusic dub themselves as a Malaysian alternative rock band based in Kuala Lumpur.
Comprising four 20-year-olds with a psychedelic passion that has propelled them to take over stages at international music festivals, number one spots on local music charts, and a hit of a million streams for their single ‘Lovesick’, all within a year.
The band members are frontman and rhythm guitarist Arif Kamarudin, vocalist and lead guitarist Adrian Danial, bassist Firdaus Azmi, and drummer Muaz Rabbani.
In 2020, they were named Band of the Year by The Platform Awards as well as being nominated for Best Music Video for their song 'Vertigo'.
The band's debut EP 'When Love Was Around' in 2018 has accumulated 1.8 million streams to date, whereas their follow-up 'Caramel Cream' EP launched last year and has accumulated 1.3 million streams so far.
The band has also performed at numerous music festivals, including the Good Vibes Festival 2019, WeTheFest Festival in Jakarta, and BayBeats Festival in Singapore, as well as Urbanscapes 2018.
The focus track of the album, 'Strangers', offers a glimpse of the band's frame of mind.
“Strangers is about dealing with addiction,” the band said.
“It’s written from the perspective of someone who’s not always sober, and can’t see the negative impact of their behaviour.”
The band said 'Am I In The Right Mind?' speaks about a person’s struggle with anxiety and having to question everything and anything that they do, just to validate themselves.
'How Will I Know', they said, is an interlude and a prequel to 'Am I In The Right Mind'.
"It’s about the many questions that take over our minds from time to time."
Midnight Fusic said 'Take You There' touches on finding the one thing that takes one away from all the pain and chaos in the world, whereas 'Think About' speaks about the early stages of a developing relationship where two people fall in love with each other but aren’t so sure the other person feels the same way.
“Adding in more songs would have been great, but way too ambitious. And that just means we’re already planning what to put into our next album,” Midnight Fusic said.
The band said although the album lacked a definitive concept, the music takes listeners on a journey through the minds of the band members through a mix of genres.
“We want people to find their own way of expressing any profound emotion towards the album, it’s for our listeners to explore themselves,” the band said.
Listen to the album here: https://midnightfusic.lnk.to/MFAlbum - The Vibes, February 13, 2021
