The Midnight Youth – The Brave Don’t Run

If you’re a Kiwi and haven’t heard of these guys yet then you have clearly been living under a hole. After forming in 2006 and breaking onto the New Zealand music scene in a big way in 2008 these guys are taking over! Their first single ‘The Letter’ was met with widespread acclaim across New Zealand in 2008 followed by ‘All on our own’ in 2009 which reached number 6 on the New Zealand charts. Their latest single ‘Learning to Fall’ is just as popular and their video for this song was filmed in New York and has been a hit across the country.

All of these songs, plus seven others, are on The Midnight Youth’s debut album ‘The Brave Don’t Run’ – a line taken from the first track on the album, Cavalry. My favourite thing about this album is that there is something for everyone. It’s not one of those albums where all the songs have the same sound with similar subjects. All the songs are different and have completely different sounds than the other. Golden Love is a winner with its soft lullaby-type tune and Tijuana contrasts this nicely with a more upbeat sound. My favourite song, however, is by far Benjamin, which is totally different than anything else on the album, perhaps part of the reason I love it! It’s catchy and a great tune to dance to in the comfort of your own room where no one else can see you.

Lead singer Jeremy Redmore has one of the best voices I have heard come out of New Zealand in a number of years and his voice is accompanied by the skills of Simon Oscroft, Nick Campbell, Matt Warman and Aidan Bartlett. One thing I love about The Midnight Youth which you may not find in that many bands these days is their sound is not computer altered. All they need is their instruments and they’re good to go. They sound just as good live as they do on the CD unlike other artists (cough, Lady Gaga, cough)

This album is good from track one through to track ten. If you buy it on itunes you even get a bonus track, their first single ‘Supernatural’ which I personally think is a great song. If you buy the CD you get the awesome artwork that comes in the booklet. Tough decision, but whatever you do, get yourself a copy. This is an album not to be missed, these guys are great, and if I do say so myself they’re New Zealand’s next big thing.