Today we’re pleased to premiere the latest offering from LA-based post-punk artist The Sea At Midnight. The new single ‘We Share The Same Stars’, the latest in a series of singles showcasing this artist’s 2020 offerings towards the release of the eponymous debut album, due out later this year. This song ought to delight fans of The Cure, Joy Division, Depeche Mode, Drab Majesty, Ash Code, and New Order.

“We Share The Same Stars” is a briskly sweeping post-punk/dream-pop hybrid track that reverberates with a dark bass line undertow and fast-smacked drum beat and swirls with bright guitar chime and dreamy synth diffusion. Vocals and lyrics are heartfelt and true – we all exist on Earth under the same stars that sparkle in the night sky… We are not so different that we live in totally different worlds deep down inside…

This single – just as the full album – was produced, recorded and mixed by Chris King of Cold Showers at Moon Palace Productions in Los Angeles with Brandon Pierce of Glaare contributing drums. This is an infectious track that feels very now, but with retro underpinnings of ’80s British bands such as The Mission, Blue in Heaven, and The Railway Children. A clever balance between old-school and new is expertly achieved here.

Born and raised in Chicago, The Sea At Midnight is Chicago-raised Los Angeles-based songwriter Vince Grant. Inspired by classic post-punk bands like The Cure, Joy Division, the Psychedelic Furs, Siouxsie and the Banshees, New Order, and Echo and the Bunnymen, he bought his first guitar at 23 and started playing in local Chicago bands before eventually moving to Los Angeles.

He then bounced back and forth between New York and LA for a number of years, playing and singing in numerous bands, working a series of dead-end jobs and grappling with drug addiction and alcoholism. After getting sober and making a serious attempt at dealing with his lifelong depression, Vince now calls LA home.

What began as an acquaintance via Craigslist between Vince Grant and Chris King, grew into internet file-swapping of acoustic demos, and an initial single blossomed into plans for an EP, and then full length album of eight tracks.

The Sea At Midnight captures a sound and aesthetic that can be compared to The Cure, Joy Division, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Depeche Mode, the Mighty Lemon Drops, the Wild Swans, and Icicle Works, to name just a few.

“When working with Chris King, we approached every song asking “What is good for this song?” rather than “How can we make it sound like all the others or how can we make it sound like such and such band”. Each song has its own individual vibe and we didn’t want to rely on a sonic cookie cutter approach with the same musical template. That’s why I especially like bands such as The Cure and Depeche Mode. You know it’s them immediately, but each song has its own personality and style. If I strive for anything, it’s that – for The Sea At Midnight to be recognizable while, at the same time, each song has its own unique personality,” says Vince Grant.

“This release was never supposed to happen. I thought my days of playing in bands and recording were over. If it weren’t for fate, this record would have never been made. I had no intentions of recording ever again. For wont of a better word, the ‘dark’ scene is where I’m coming from. I also really feel a kinship to the cyberpunk aesthetic. Lyrically many of the songs deal with my struggles with alcohol and drug addiction and coping with lifelong depression. I suppose there is a strong element of sadness to them, but I also feel they contain a glimmer of hope.”

‘We Share The Same Stars’ is out via iTunes, Spotify, and other digital retailers on August 21. It can be pre-ordered via Bandcamp The full album, The Sea At Midnight, is due out this fall.

Also check out a few more of his recent singles:

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