Kingswood have released their seventh studio album Midnight Mavericks, marking the next stage in the Melbourne band’s evolution as they continue their shift toward country and Americana influenced songwriting while launching a national tour across Australia.
music
by Paul Cashmere
Kingswood have released Midnight Mavericks, with the Melbourne group using the record to continue a stylistic direction that has increasingly pulled the band from its alternative rock foundations into country and Americana territory. The album arrives alongside a run of Australian dates that begins with a hometown performance at Melbourne’s Corner Hotel and extends through Queensland and New South Wales festival and headline appearances.
For Kingswood, the release is more than another album cycle. Midnight Mavericks lands at a point where Australian acts are increasingly moving across genre boundaries, reflecting a broader trend in contemporary music where rock artists are drawing from country traditions and roots storytelling. While the group’s early reputation was built on driving rock singles and festival appearances, the latest material leans heavily into narrative songwriting and traditional American influences.
The album also marks another development in Kingswood’s relationship with ABC Music after the band signed with the label in 2025. Coming after more than a decade of releases and touring, Midnight Mavericks positions the band within a different conversation from the one that first introduced them through Triple J support and alternative rock audiences.
Produced by Alexander Laska, who also co-wrote all tracks on the album, Midnight Mavericks was developed around themes of identity, movement and personal reflection. According to the band, much of the material emerged during periods between performances and travel.
The group described the project as, “an album written after the lights go out. You’re forced to reckon with who you are when no one’s watching. There’s grit here. There’s tenderness. It’s country and rock, worn in, not dressed up, built on melody, muscle, and stories, blending lived-in boots and hopeful dreamers.”
The album has already generated early momentum through tracks including Lovin’ A Girl, Faith and Highway Signs, songs that gained airplay across country and rock radio formats.
Kingswood have also issued a new single, The Action, alongside the album. Frontman Fergus Linacre described the song as “a dance floor belter that revels in the freedom of sinless attraction and fearless endeavour, as one feels when you finally swim out past the crashing waves of heartbreak, and you’re ready to stand up on your board and surf again.”
The release adds another chapter to a catalogue that has undergone several reinventions since Kingswood formed in Melbourne in 2007. Fergus Linacre, Alex Laska, Jeremy “Mango” Hunter and Justin Debrincat first gained attention through early independent releases before breaking through with their 2014 debut album Microscopic Wars.
Recorded in Nashville with producer Vance Powell, Microscopic Wars reached No. 6 on the ARIA Albums Chart and received an ARIA Award nomination for Best Rock Album. Subsequent albums including After Hours, Close To Dawn and Juveniles further established the band as a significant Australian touring act.
Over time the band’s sound shifted from blues based rock toward broader influences. The 2023 release Home and later The Tale Of G.C. Townes hinted at stronger country and roots influences that now appear central to Midnight Mavericks.
The move also places Kingswood within a larger industry trend. In recent years artists traditionally identified with rock have increasingly adopted country elements, a shift visible internationally and within Australia. The approach can broaden audiences but also creates expectations from existing fans who connected with earlier material.
For Kingswood, the transition has developed gradually rather than through a sudden stylistic break. The group’s current direction appears less focused on chasing commercial trends and more connected to songwriting priorities and long-term artistic identity.
With more than 80 million streams globally and multiple ARIA and Golden Guitar nominations across their career, Midnight Mavericks now becomes the next test of how audiences respond to Kingswood’s continued evolution. The immediate focus shifts to the road, where the material will be tested in live settings over the coming weeks.
Tour Dates
Friday May 22, Melbourne, The Corner Hotel
Saturday May 23, Port Douglas, Savannah Sounds Festival
Thursday May 28, Brisbane, Lefty’s Music Hall
Friday May 29, Sydney, The Factory Theatre
Saturday May 30, Hunter Valley, Full Throttle Ranch
Friday June 19, Cairns, Tanks Art Centre
Saturday June 20, Cooktown, Cooktown Discovery Festival
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