Ashton Nyte’s The Awakening Returns with “Mirror Midnight,” European Tour

The Awakening inspects the insecurities, self-obsession, near-madness, and the effects on human behavior under the influence of social media and absorption of other conniving forces on “Mirror Midnight,” the lead single from the band’s self-titled 12th album (Intervention Arts), out October 18.

Behind the borders, of the truth / A thousand choices, for eternal youth / Domination of the weak, miseducation of the poor / Tyrants hold their breath while the people drown in the cure sings frontman Ashton Nyte on the track, accompanied by a music video, which he shot and directed in black and white, depicting some of the dissonance sparked by outside forces.

“‘Mirror Midnight’ is about the obsession of the self, as guided and fed and manipulated by mass media, social media, and the endless flood of information and disinformation we all deal with constantly,” says Nyte of the song. “It’s the juxtaposition of succumbing to insidious and divisive marketing while the world goes up in flames. And how that cycle feeds itself. It’s a story almost as old as time, like the fairy tale it alludes to.”

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The 12th album from the Awakening, following the band’s heavier The Passage Remains in 2022, the self-titled album is a “celebration of the band’s roots and influences,” says Ashton Nyte. “Essentially, I fell in love all over again with the bands and albums that made me want to create this sort of art in the first place,” he adds. “It was a true joy to create this work.”

The Awakening follows Nyte’s eighth solo album, Autumn’s Children in 2023, which was included in the Top Albums of 2023 list from American Songwriter, and his second book of the same name.

“The last two Awakening albums were departures for me,” shared Nyte. “‘This Alchemy’ (2021) explored the more electronic side of my musical personality, and ‘The Passage Remains’ (2022) effectively cleared out the vaults of unreleased heavier material. It feels like time to come home.”

Recently featured in the 2024 dark drama Pale Horse, the final film from Singaporean filmmaker Pearry Teo, Nyte’s music has also appeared on television in Little Liars: Original Sin, The Purge, and more. He also scored the 2019 film Don’t Let Go with composer Ethan Gold, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival.

In 2020, Nyte released his first book of short stories, poetry, and other reflections on Waiting For A Voice, accompanied by a solo album of the same name.

Nyte will appear on the upcoming Beauty in Chaos release Dancing with Angels on the closing “Made of Rain,” and present the new Awakening music on a solo acoustic tour, kicking off on September 28 in Germany and continuing with a series of dates throughout Europe and the UK through November 2. The tour marks Nyte’s first since 2019 with The Mission’s Wayne Hussey, with a set spanning the nearly 30-year history of The Awakening along with his solo catalog.

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‘The Awakening’ Tracklist:

1. “Shimmer”

2. “Mirror Midnight”

3. “Through The Veil”

4. “Your Vampire”

5. “Haunting”

6. “Below The Emptiness”

7. “See You Fall”

8. “Fallout”

9. “Sliver”

10. “Not Here”

11. “Cabaret”

12. “Continuum”

The Awakening 2024 European Tour Dates:

September

28 – Campus Noir Festival, Ilmenau, Germnay

29 – The Water Rats, London, UK

October

2 – Fulford Arms, York, UK

3 – Cabaret Voltaire, Edinburgh, UK

4 – Record Junkee, Sheffield, UK

25 – KohiI! Kulturraum, Karlsruhe, Germany

26 – Pauluskirche, Dortmund, Germany

27 – Café Foli-A, Retie, Belgium

November

1 – Maria’s Ballroom, Hamburg Germany

2 – Brainstorm Festival, Apeldoorn, The Netherlands

Get tickets for The Awakening tour here.

Photos: Courtesy of Ashton Nyte