KingswoodThere’s something about Kingswood that has always carried a larger than life energy, but with Midnight Mavericks, the band is peeling back the curtain a little more than before.
Blending vintage rock influences with country soul, the album balances its big live energy with more introspective storytelling moments.
Written in the spaces between touring, long drives and late night self reflection, Midnight Mavericks explores themes of ambition, belonging, loyalty and escape with the kind of perspective that comes from living it, rather than chasing a polished product.
The album has already started building serious momentum thanks to singles like Lovin’ A Girl, Faith and Highway Signs, with the tracks landing support across both country and rock radio; and several singles landing on the Countrytown Hot 50 National Country Airplay Chart.
Produced by Alexander Laska, who also co-wrote every track on the album, Midnight Mavericks sees Kingswood fully embracing the intersection between rock and country - somewhere between Tom Petty, Johnny Cash, Lynyrd Skynyrd and a couple of whiskeys at 2am.
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To celebrate the release, they’re giving fans an exclusive look behind the curtain, breaking down each song in their own words. They share everything from writing with country legends, to the unexpected moments that helped shape the record.
Here’s Kingswood, in their own words, taking us track by track through Midnight Mavericks.
‘MIDNIGHT MAVERICKS’ - TRACK BY TRACK
1. Two Lovers
‘Two Lovers’ is the opening track of the album and features long-time KINGSWOOD friend and frequenting band member Steph Greenwood. Steph has sung on many of our records and performs on this track in duet form with Fergus. Two Lovers took a long time to write. It celebrates the love that has endured the battle of heartbreak and gone through all the tough stuff and come out the other side, risen from the rubble, with a kind of warmth and solace and kindness for one another. As the lyrics say ‘you don’t know what the future is going to hold but you’re there and you’re holding hands in the dark’. It’s a rare thing for two people to find and it’s nice that we can celebrate that in this song.
2. Lovin’ A Girl
‘Lovin’ a Girl’ was the first song on the Midnight Mavericks adventure that kicked it all off. We were drawing close from a tour that had spanned the entirety of our lives the year of 2023 and preparing for a new international adventure. We had a trip up north of Queensland and was sat on our tour bus – Alex had a rolling guitar riff that had been sitting in the back of his mind for a while, a Tom Petty inspired sound – meets West Coast country and sure enough we got it together in the evening and stumbled across a little bit of a recipe of what was to become the Midnight Mavericks. Kind of merging our love of Vince Gill and Ronny Millsap with Skynyrd, Tom Petty and The Eagles!
3. The Action
I like to think of ‘The Action’ as a dancefloor belter – a term I have coined. I love this tune, it kind of revels in that freedom you feel when you’re out the other side of a breakup… You’re fighting to get out past the waves, getting crashed, you swim out a bit further and another wave crashes and you finally get out the back – there’s clear water and you can stand up on your wave, and you can surf again. I don’t surf but I like that analogy. You kind of have this sort of guiltless attraction again and you can get back up on your feet and get your groove back – it celebrates that feeling. It’s heap of fun live and can’t wait for you to have a listen.
4. Highway Signs
‘Highway Signs’ is one of my favourites, just based on how it was written and where it took place – it was on a great adventure across America, having purchased my dream truck that I’ve always wanted since I was a kid which is a 1980s style bullnose era F truck. I found it in South Dakota, flew there and drove across the country sleeping in the back tray and taking it back home to Nashville and along the way meeting all these characters and having these interesting fork-in-the-road life moments pertained to a lot of subjects from Alcohol to religion to love and out of that, Highway Signs was born.
5. Mary Jane
‘Mary Jane’ closes off side A on the record and is a homage or a tribute to that character in your life that is a hallmark of so many different exchanges and different periods and is kind of the one that got away but always came back. Your favourite guitar, or your favourite car or your favourite photo and the person you long for that lights up your life and you think you can’t have but ultimately is destined for you. That feeling is a pretty powerful and special one and hopefully you have someone who has either has been that or will be that. I am lucky enough to have had that and I got to write a song about it, called ‘Mary Jane’.
6. Jenny
‘Jenny’ was one of the first songs from the record that we played live. I think as soon as we wrote it, we started playing it live because we knew it would be great fun and it sort of immediately became a bit of a showstopper. We haven’t taken it out of the set, and we often play it last (even before it was released!) It’s a lifelong love story, it’s an ode to the person that’s always been in your heart, not always by your side. Someone you grew up with and is always there, returns to you when they need you and you need them too. It’s complicated, non-linear and requires patience and respect and sometimes space. It’s a little bit of a mystery if they end up together or not. It’s kind of a pick your own ending, sometimes we sing the last line that they end up together and sometimes we leave it open ended. We love ‘Jenny,’ it’s a really big song and we can’t wait for everyone to hear it.
7. Faith
‘Faith’ was written in sunny Nashville during the summer with fellow song writer Tyler Halverson and Jon Decious, who writes with many artists, namely Lainey Wilson and her big hit 4x4xU. We had a whiskey drenched afternoon, I believe Tyler was deep in the throes of a loving relationship, of someone who shall not be named but you could probably gather if you know a little bit of the interaction there, of another female and very talented Nashville artist and we ended up with this song ‘Faith’. Everyone contributing and finding the little nuances of their own experiences to similar characters and putting it together in this melting pot and here we are… Nashville born but Australian bred, ‘Faith’ – enjoy!
8. Pouring Rain
Some songs hang around for a long time on bits of pieces of paper and in voice memos and you find yourself singing the chorus and think ‘maybe we should revisit this one or finish this one’ and this is one of those songs. It kind of sat around for a while and we brought it up again when we were writing for this album and we thought maybe it could find a home on it. It’s been in different iterations bouncing around. It’s a bit silly, it’s jovial but it’s born out of pure affection and expression of uncompromising devotion. I’m really glad it was finished. It is a fun song, a bit silly but it’s romantic and my kind of my music – dance around the kitchen! Features a wonderful bit of guitar work from my dear friend Alex as well, this one matches the energy of the song. It’s a little silly, enjoy ‘Pouring Rain’.
9. Joanie
‘Joanie’ ties closely into ‘Highway Signs’ – it comes from the trek across America that I took in the dream truck of mine – the 1985 Bull Nose F150 – it just so happens that I bought this particular truck off a couple, it had been their Sunday driver, their leisurely romantic getaway vehicle. It’s cream with a velvet interior; it’s a Lariat XLT. The 8ft long bed, had this beautiful red shag carpet in it and on the side of the truck had this sticker ‘Bob & Joan’. Bob had sadly passed away, and Joan was selling Bob’s fleet of vehicles, I never got to meet Bob or Joan but this is the story that was shared with me upon the purchase. And I just thought, how amazing that I am driving this truck that has all these memories and stories. I kind of made up this romance that was really inspiring to me about Bob and Joan and what that might’ve been like. There’s a reference to the ‘85 F150 and I kind of imagined this love between them that took hold of them in their teenage years and right the way through to the point where I ended up with the truck. Who knows how accurate it might be but maybe it’s something I drew from the car, or maybe if someone who knows Bob and Joan can hear a link to the song, please let me know. In the meantime, you enjoy it!
10. Last First Kiss
This is a big romantic ballad that embodies that realisation of finding the one. Falling madly in love and knowing that when you do have that kiss that it will be your last first kiss! It’s probably our most unabashed love song to date. It’s big and bold it’s a power ballad, energy and we kind of went down that road, further than we, at times, we might’ve been comfortable with but we ended up loving it and it goes down well live as well. It was the second release off the album. A big, juicy love song – perfect for a bridal waltz, which you can play through the speakers or pay us to play it live at your wedding for a hefty fee!! This is ‘Last First Kiss’.
Midnight Mavericks will be released on May 22.
