Endless Summer by The Midnight: a brief analysis
01 May 2019
Endless Summer by The Midnight is one of the best, purest, smoothest synthwave albums ever. Here are a few notes about its chords and production.
General notes
- Almost every single chord is inside the root key of the song
- About half the loops don’t start with their root chord. Some never play the root chord at all
- I didn’t bother trying to figure out the exact augmentations of each chord. Most are probably enriched with 2nds, 4ths, 6ths, and 7ths in some combination according to taste. A few chords have clear, audible augmentations; in particular, some include prominent 7ths, and some only work as sus4s
- About half the songs are the exact same 4 bar loop throughout the entire song. Variation and interest comes entirely from the arrangement. The most common automation technique is opening and closing a low-pass filter.
- Many of the songs that aren’t the same loop all the way through still simply rearrange and reorder 3 or 4 core chords
1. Endless Summer
Entire song:
Abmaj7 / Cm7 / Fm
IV / VIm / IV / IIm
- The song sometimes uses
Bb to get from Ab to Cm7
- The song is in the key of
Eb, but the chord Eb is never played
- You can most clearly hear the 7s in the
Abmaj7 and Cm7 in the pad chords that play around 3:35
- There’s fairly heavy sidechain compression on the bass that I think would sound out of place in most other, less “artificial” sounding songs by the Midnight
2. Sunset
Entire song:
Bb / C / Dm / F
Bb / C / Dm / C
IV / V / VIm / I
IV / V / VIm / V
- I like the heavily low-passed drums at 2:30, you can just make out the distinction between the kick and the snare
- When the bass moves from
C to Dm it dips down to A for one note. This is a tiny but neat variation on the standard thumping root note synthwave bass.
3. Daytona
Main:
C / D / Em / Bm
VI / VII / Im / Vm
Solo:
D / C / Eb / F
- This is one of two songs on the album that include a chord outside of the root key (the
Eb in the solo)
- The hits in the transitions between chords in the solo are something like:
D => C goes via Am => G/BC => Eb goes via Bb/D (not certain about this one)Eb => F goes via Gm
4. Jason
Intro:
Dm / C
Verse:
Dm / C / Bb
Chorus:
Bb / C / Dm
Turnaround at end of solo:
Dm / C / Gm / Am / Bb / C / Bm
- The
Bm at the end of the solo is the only chromatic chord in the album. It helps get from the key of Dm to the relative major key of Bb. It sounds great.
5. Synthetic
Verse:
Ab / Cm / Bb
I / IIIm / II
Chorus:
Ab / Bb / Cm / Eb
Ab / Bb / Cm
I / II / IIIm / V
I / II / IIIm
- The chorus only uses
Eb to get from Cm back to Ab on every other loop. This adds variation and avoids overusing the pleasant but prominent transition.
6. The Equaliser (Not Alone)
Whole song:
Dm / C / Bb in various combinations
Guitar solo:
Throws in two rounds of Bb / C / Dm / Gsus4 towards the end
- The guitar solo has a lick that’s very similar to the chorus of “Shadows”
- The
Gsus4 in the guitar solo has to be a sus4, it makes no sense with either a major or a minor third
7. The Comeback Kid
Entire song:
C / G / F
C / G / F
Am / Em / F
Am / G / F
- The second half of the sequence (the
Am/Em/F and Am/G/F lines) is a nice, subtle variation on the first half. Since Am and Em are the relative minors of C and G the two halves are close to harmonically identical. This means that the same loops can be played over the top with very little risk of dissonance.
8. Vampires
Most of the song:
Bbm / Db / Ab / Gb
Im / III / VII / VI
Chorus:
Bbm / Db / Ab / Gb
Bbm / Db / Ab / Gb
Ebm / Fm / Gb
Bbm / Db / Ab / Gb
End of solo:
Ab / Fm / Gb
Bbm / Db / Ab / Gb
9. Crockett’s Revenge
Am / G / F / G
Am / G / F / Em
- The pattern that the bell that comes in at the start plays feels quite trancey. Reminds me of Offshore by Chicane
10. Nighthawks
Whole song:
C#m / E / Amaj7
- The major 7 in the
Amaj7 is very audible
11. Lonely City
Most of the song:
A / C#m / B in various combinations
Towards the end:
Amaj7 / C#m / B
Amaj7 / B / F#sus4
- The major 7 in the
Amaj7 is again audible and important
12. Memories
Entire song:
D / Bm / G / A / Bm
- The doubling on the vocals in the verse is great (eg. at 2:43). There’s a lot of separation between the main line and the harmony. I think there might be stereo widening on the main line and narrowing on the harmony.
Endless Summer by The Midnight is one of the best, purest, smoothest synthwave albums ever. Here are a few notes about its chords and production.
General notes
- Almost every single chord is inside the root key of the song
- About half the loops don’t start with their root chord. Some never play the root chord at all
- I didn’t bother trying to figure out the exact augmentations of each chord. Most are probably enriched with 2nds, 4ths, 6ths, and 7ths in some combination according to taste. A few chords have clear, audible augmentations; in particular, some include prominent 7ths, and some only work as sus4s
- About half the songs are the exact same 4 bar loop throughout the entire song. Variation and interest comes entirely from the arrangement. The most common automation technique is opening and closing a low-pass filter.
- Many of the songs that aren’t the same loop all the way through still simply rearrange and reorder 3 or 4 core chords
1. Endless Summer
Entire song:
Abmaj7 / Cm7 / Fm
IV / VIm / IV / IIm
- The song sometimes uses
Bbto get fromAbtoCm7 - The song is in the key of
Eb, but the chordEbis never played - You can most clearly hear the 7s in the
Abmaj7andCm7in the pad chords that play around 3:35 - There’s fairly heavy sidechain compression on the bass that I think would sound out of place in most other, less “artificial” sounding songs by the Midnight
2. Sunset
Entire song:
Bb / C / Dm / F
Bb / C / Dm / C
IV / V / VIm / I
IV / V / VIm / V
- I like the heavily low-passed drums at 2:30, you can just make out the distinction between the kick and the snare
- When the bass moves from
CtoDmit dips down toAfor one note. This is a tiny but neat variation on the standard thumping root note synthwave bass.
3. Daytona
Main:
C / D / Em / Bm
VI / VII / Im / Vm
Solo:
D / C / Eb / F
- This is one of two songs on the album that include a chord outside of the root key (the
Ebin the solo) - The hits in the transitions between chords in the solo are something like:
D=>Cgoes viaAm=>G/BC=>Ebgoes viaBb/D(not certain about this one)Eb=>Fgoes viaGm
4. Jason
Intro:
Dm / C
Verse:
Dm / C / Bb
Chorus:
Bb / C / Dm
Turnaround at end of solo:
Dm / C / Gm / Am / Bb / C / Bm
- The
Bmat the end of the solo is the only chromatic chord in the album. It helps get from the key ofDmto the relative major key ofBb. It sounds great.
5. Synthetic
Verse:
Ab / Cm / Bb
I / IIIm / II
Chorus:
Ab / Bb / Cm / Eb
Ab / Bb / Cm
I / II / IIIm / V
I / II / IIIm
- The chorus only uses
Ebto get fromCmback toAbon every other loop. This adds variation and avoids overusing the pleasant but prominent transition.
6. The Equaliser (Not Alone)
Whole song:
Dm / C / Bb in various combinations
Guitar solo:
Throws in two rounds of Bb / C / Dm / Gsus4 towards the end
- The guitar solo has a lick that’s very similar to the chorus of “Shadows”
- The
Gsus4in the guitar solo has to be asus4, it makes no sense with either a major or a minor third
7. The Comeback Kid
Entire song:
C / G / F
C / G / F
Am / Em / F
Am / G / F
- The second half of the sequence (the
Am/Em/FandAm/G/Flines) is a nice, subtle variation on the first half. SinceAmandEmare the relative minors ofCandGthe two halves are close to harmonically identical. This means that the same loops can be played over the top with very little risk of dissonance.
8. Vampires
Most of the song:
Bbm / Db / Ab / Gb
Im / III / VII / VI
Chorus:
Bbm / Db / Ab / Gb
Bbm / Db / Ab / Gb
Ebm / Fm / Gb
Bbm / Db / Ab / Gb
End of solo:
Ab / Fm / Gb
Bbm / Db / Ab / Gb
9. Crockett’s Revenge
Am / G / F / G
Am / G / F / Em
- The pattern that the bell that comes in at the start plays feels quite trancey. Reminds me of Offshore by Chicane
10. Nighthawks
Whole song:
C#m / E / Amaj7
- The major 7 in the
Amaj7is very audible
11. Lonely City
Most of the song:
A / C#m / B in various combinations
Towards the end:
Amaj7 / C#m / B
Amaj7 / B / F#sus4
- The major 7 in the
Amaj7is again audible and important
12. Memories
Entire song:
D / Bm / G / A / Bm
- The doubling on the vocals in the verse is great (eg. at 2:43). There’s a lot of separation between the main line and the harmony. I think there might be stereo widening on the main line and narrowing on the harmony.