photo by Autumn Dozier Photography; photo courtesy of Skye Media

Single Reviews of Midnight South: “Villains” and “One More”

Midnight South is an country band with an arena filling, rockin’ country sound. Winner of the Arkansas Country Music Awards’ Vocal Group of the Year award in 2023 and 2024 – currently hoping for a threepeat in 2025 as they’ve been nominated again this year – you can hear why award voters are so enamored with this band. The band has released several singles in the last year or so, and I’ve chosen two of my favorites to write about.

image courtesy of Skye Media

Midnight South’s “Villains” is a straight-up good-time country music party song that reminisces about enjoying life. The sound is big and uplifting, exactly the sort of song that hits #1 on country charts. Sure, there are the classic Pavlovian country hit references about life going fast, beer (“Busch light”), church (“front pew feelings”), references to to wild youth (“still shows up to raise hell sometimes”), and even smokes (“Marlboro Reds”). The only thing missing is a pick-up truck, which Midnight South covers with the cover art. You know, it seems like I’m painting this as a trite, formulaic country song. Nah, of course not. I mean, in some ways it is – and that’s a good thing because that’s “audience reach” right there – but the playful delivery, the vocal nuances, and the sense of exactly where a little noodly guitar riff belongs… well, that’s what makes Midnight South a cut above. It’s all about the details. For me, this is a crank-it-up, windows down, dog days of summer kind of tune. I know the band released it last fall, but right now’s a much better time to be discovering it, if you haven’t already.

image courtesy of Skye Media

The other song, “One More” starts off a little nuanced, with a smoothly sung, almost-spoken first verse – and a reference to a “whiskey coke” in the first line as a nod to our old friend Pavlov. Then the song builds to a catchy chorus that ends with that lyrical hook, “One more’s never one more with you.” I mean, the band’s promoting safe drinking, taking a cab home, sitting in the backseat “kissin’ like who were we kidding.” I mean, it’s not very deep, but the lyrics are clever, and it makes taking a cab home seem like a great idea. But it’s really about how the band’s delivery seals the deal. It’s not the blow-the-doors-off country rocker that “Villains” is; no, “One More” is more of a sit back and enjoy it kinda song.

Back-to-back, these two songs are the kind that gives a concert variety. Both have big sounds and relatable, nostalgic themes. However, they have very different types of energy, and that’s what makes it seems like Midnight South is a band with potential staying power. They’re not one-trick ponies; they excel at a range of mid-to-high-tempo country styles. From this small sampling, I’d say Midnight South is talented, authentic, probably a helluva lot of fun live, and definitely a great band for a repeated-listen playlist.

photo by RK Barger Photography; photo courtesy of Skye Media

More Recently

Between the releases of “Villains” last fall and “One More” earlier this year, Midnight South released a Christmas song, “This Christmas Night.” Since the release of “One More,” just last month the band released its latest single, “Loved By You.” Both of those songs – as well as the band’s back catalogs – are worth a listen.

Also, as I mentioned in the opening paragraph, Midnight South has been nominated for Vocal Group of the Year at the 2025 Arkansas Country Music Awards. A win, if it comes, would be the band’s third in a row in that category. Here’s wishing the band good luck.

Finally, if you’re in Arkansas, check out the “Shows” section of the band’s website. Midnight South has a bunch of shows scheduled around Arkansas for the rest of this year. Of course, you’ll want to keep checking back for updates… or join the mailing list. Yeah, that’d probably be easier.