Middle Kids

Purveyors of a full-bodied style of introspective indie pop/rock, Sydney trio Middle Kids burst onto the scene in 2016 with their first single, "Edge of Town," thanks in part to an on-air endorsement from none other than Elton John. Their full-length debut, Lost Friends, followed in 2018 and reached Australia's Top Ten. They toured internationally before recording their second album, 2021's Today We're the Greatest which won them a Best Rock Album ARIA Award. The band spent 2023 ramping up for their third LP with a clutch of singles including the hit "Dramamine." Faith Crisis Pt. 1 appeared early in 2024.Classically trained piano player Hannah Joy and multi-instrumentalist Tim Fitz first met in 2014, and Fitz began to produce her solo work as well as playing in her band. Following a series of self-released solo material for Joy, the pair recruited drummer and Sydney Conservatorium of Music in Jazz Performance graduate Harry Day to join them in 2016 as their songwriting became increasingly collaborative. Before they had played a show together, the trio recorded their debut single, "Edge of Town." Middle Kids received an immediate boost to their profile after John aired it on his Beats 1 radio show, added it to his public playlist, and called himself a fan. The group achieved further exposure when they won FBI Radio's Northern Lights competition, which earned them a spot on the bill at the Iceland Airwaves Music Festival in Reykjavík. Keen to put out their first extended-play release, Middle Kids gathered together tracks like "Doing It Right," which was recorded at Parliament Studios along with "Edge of Town" and a number of other compositions recorded in Joy and Fitz's garage. The six-track Middle Kids EP appeared on Domino and EMI Music Australia in early 2017. Featuring songs full of lo-fi charm matched with big pop hooks, it spent a week at number 26 on Australia's album chart. The band spent the remainder of the year touring extensively, supporting Cold War Kids on their U.S. tour and performing at SXSW and the Great Escape Festival. Their first album, Lost Friends, arrived in May of 2018 and went to number ten in Australia. In October of that year, while touring Europe in support of Bloc Party, Middle Kids issued the single "Salt Eyes," which they recorded at Ryan Adams' PAX-AM studio. It was included on May 2019's New Songs for Old Problems EP. Later that year, the band tracked their second full-length in Los Angeles with producer Lars Stalfors (Cold War Kids, HEALTH). Joy and Fitz were married before the completed Today We're the Greatest saw release in March 2021. The album was a significant success for Middle Kids, peaking at number five on the Australian pop chart and earning them an ARIA Award for Best Rock Album. The following year the band decamped to Bournemouth, England to begin recording their third set with co-producer Jonathan Gilmore (the 1975, Beabadoobee). A succession of single from these sessions arrived throughout 2023 including the easy-grooved "Bootleg Firecracker" and the rousing "Dramamine." The resulting album, Faith Crisis Pt. 1, was released in February 2024.
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