Kevin Bronson on October 3rd, 2018

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L.A. trio Midnight Divide make old-school alternative rock, with riffs that register on the Richter scale and choruses tailored to arenas, not bedrooms. They earned notice for their first two EPs, 2015’s “Embrace the Wave” and 2017’s “Dichotomy,” and now the band — singer-guitarist-keyboardist Austen Moret, bassist Jace McPartland and guitarist Dan Beltran — have turned their attention to weighing in on current affairs.

The trio’s new single “Let It Be Known” imagines a movie where tens of thousands of people are marching on the White House. “We are the few standing united / Ready to make a play on the throne / We are the few yet undivided / Coming awake, let it be known,” Moret declares in the chorus.

“I never thought I’d write a politically charged song,” Moret says, “but then again I never thought I’d see the level of insanity we’re experiencing right now.”

Moret, who produces the band’s music in his Hollywood studio, Silverside Recording, elaborates: “I guess you could say this song was a necessary personal catharsis. As far as current U.S. affairs and leadership, it just feels like no matter how wrong something is, and how blatantly obvious it is that it’s wrong, it doesn’t really matter these days. So many lies and finger-pointing on both sides that getting good positive change gets stonewalled and seems impossible. … I don’t want to help further the divide between people, but I’m also deeply upset about where we are. I needed a release, and maybe a bit of a rally to try and seek out real change. ’Cause what’s happening with the current administration sure as shit won’t work.”

The new single is out this week; Midnight Divide are currently working on their third EP.

||| Stream: “Let It Be Known”