Middle Kids share new single ‘Highlands’
Australian alt-indie rockers Middle Kids have shared their new single ‘Highlands’. The song follows the release of ‘Bootleg Firecracker’ earlier this year.
‘Highlands’ is a hopeful song about freedom, following on from the contented sound of Middle Kids’ single ‘Stacking Chairs’ in 2021. Lead vocalist Hannah Joy yearns, “And I can’t keep waiting for things to change”.
Singer-songwriter Joy shared the meaning behind the hopeful track, stating, “Since I was young, I’ve had this yearning to be free. In this song, I used an image of the ‘highlands’ as a euphoric place where I have the space to be me, and you have the space to be you.”
She added: “Part of the imagery comes from my Scottish heritage, which my grandmother was always so proud of. I recorded some big slow piano chords which Tim mangled into the atmospheric hits in the intro.”
‘Highlands’ was recorded with Jonathan Gilmore, who has previously collaborated with bedroom pop artist Beabadoobee. Joy shared her experience of honing the sound of the single with Gilmore, recalling: “He thought it was important that the song felt punky, like a bunch of teenagers practising in their garage. So, there are these two energies fighting it out – the constricted energy of the domestic space and the wide open energy of the highlands.”
She concluded: “We have a friend who calls this kind of music ‘yearncore’. It’s that impatient energy that says, ‘I can’t keep waiting, I need a change’.”
The single is accompanied by a music video directed by Toby Morris, which finds Middle Kids performing the track in the desert.
Middle Kids have a run of shows still to play on their tour with Jimmy Eat World and Manchester Orchestra. Over the remainder of the summer, they will take to stages across the US, from Houston, Texas, to Philadelphia.
Watch the video for Middle Kids’ new single, ‘Highlands’, below.
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