American synthwave duo The Midnight will return to Australia in January and February 2026 for their Time Machines headline tour — a three-date run celebrating the release of their fifth studio album, Syndicate, out now via Counter Records.
Kicking off on Thursday 29 January at The Fortitude Music Hall in Brisbane, the tour will continue to Melbourne’s Forum on Saturday 31 January before wrapping up at Sydney’s Roundhouse on Sunday 1 February.
Formed in Los Angeles in 2012, Tyler Lyle and Tim McEwan first crossed paths on what Lyle calls “a songwriter’s blind date” — a pairing that fused Georgia folk with Danish pop sensibility and ultimately birthed one of the most distinctive projects to emerge from the modern synthwave scene. Over a decade later, The Midnight have evolved far beyond retro homage. Syndicate finds them at their most expansive — balancing shimmering 80s-inspired production with lyrical introspection and cinematic scale.
“Instead of just being a synth pop band, we were building an entire world with all of these archetypes,” says Lyle. “We realized we were playing with the imagery of the ’80s, but in the same way Springsteen did with midcentury America.”
Despite the genre’s reputation for studio experimentation, The Midnight have built their reputation as a dynamic live act, drawing massive crowds across Europe and North America and co-headlining a 2024 run with Chromeo. Their live shows fuse atmospheric lighting, live saxophone, and rock instrumentation to create something that feels both nostalgic and immediate — a neon world that exists somewhere between memory and myth.
After a period of personal loss and creative recalibration, Syndicate marks a renewed chapter for the duo. Its mood is reflective yet forward-facing, finding light in the machinery of modern life. As Lyle puts it: “Everything is ending, so let’s get started now.”
THE MIDNIGHT
Time Machines Australia 2026
FORTITUDE MUSIC HALL, BRISBANE THURSDAY 29 JANUARY
FORUM, MELBOURNE SATURDAY 31 JANUARY
ROUNDHOUSE, SYDNEY SUNDAY 1 FEBRUARY
Tickets on sale Mon 3 Nov, 12pm (local)
Secret Sounds Presale: Fri 31 Oct 2025 11am > Mon 3 Nov 2025 11am (local)
For complete tour and ticket information, visit secretsounds.com.
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