Midnight, The - Monsters - Purple Splatter Color Vinyl 2LP New

Monsters finds the duo of Tyler Lyle and Tim McEwan, who've gone from online cult fascination to the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Electronic Album Chart, creating a sweeping sound that fuses Americana archetypes with an evocative electronic palette referencing synth-driven film scores, deep house, pop, and rock. Monsters sees a continuation of The Midnight's immersive world-building that has attracted a rabid fanbase – a communal coalition of internet culture obsessives, bedroom producers, Tumblr goths, cosplayers, teenagers, their parents, and everyone in between – who have been pining for a new album for almost two years.

"Monsters is the story of being a teenager," says the band. "Adolescence is messy, tragic, brutal, wistful, and beautiful. Monsters is all of that." From the album artwork by Aaron Campbell to the song titles, the record excavates teenage emotions through nostalgic touchstones – the early internet, VHS tapes, Playstations, movie posters – to recreate the thrilling and crushing experiences of those tumultuous years.

Whether it's the filtered, faded vocals of "America Online" that express an almost repressed, earnest adolescent longing or the coy come-ons of the percussive "Dance With Somebody," Monsters operates in a universe where every emotion is treated with life or death import. It's an enveloping depiction of a time when life is outsized in every way, and its overwhelming sense of romance is intoxicating – the result is a masterful collage of the entire 50+ year history of electronic pop from John Carpenter through to Vaporwave and The Weeknd, agape at the endless possibilities of sound and sensation.

1. 1991 (intro)
2. America Online
3. Dance With Somebody
4. Seventeen
5. Dream Away
6. The Search for Ecco
7. Prom Night
8. Fire In The Sky
9. Monsters (feat. Jupiter Winter)
10. Helvetica
11. Brooklyn
12. Deep Blue 03:57
13. Night Skies
14. City Dreams (interlude)
15. Last Train