Black Midi

Members

• Matt Kwasniewski-Kelvin (2017–2020)
• Kaidi Akinnibi (2020–2022)
• Seth Evans (2020–2024)
• Cameron Picton
• Geordie Greep
• Morgan Simpson

Studio Albums

1. 2019 Schlagenheim
2. 2020 The Black Midi Anthology, Vol. 1: Tales of Suspense and Revenge
3. 2021 Cavalcade
4. 2021 Cavalcade: Covercade
5. 2022 Hellfire

Source: MusicBrainz

Deep Dive

Overview

Black Midi are an English experimental rock band from London, formed in 2017. In their seven years of activity, they have established themselves as architects of a restless, genre-defiant sound that sits at the intersection of math rock precision, progressive rock ambition, and avant-jazz spontaneity. Their name, borrowed from the Japanese electronic music genre black MIDI, signals an oblique relationship to their source material—their own work bears little sonic resemblance to MIDI culture but instead harnesses the term as a conceptual marker for controlled chaos and structural audacity.

Black Midi emerged during a decade when rock music had splintered into a thousand microgenres and revival movements. Rather than align with any single nostalgic impulse, they crafted a sound rooted in disciplined instrumental complexity, unpredictable song architecture, and vocal performances that oscillate between deadpan delivery and theatrical howl. They represent a branch of contemporary rock that prizes disorientation and intellectual rigor over accessibility.

Formation Story

The band coalesced in London in 2017 around the core quartet of Geordie Greep and Cameron Picton on vocals and multi-instruments, Morgan Simpson on drums, and Matt Kwasniewski-Kelvin on guitar. Greep and Picton’s dual-vocalist arrangement proved foundational to their identity; rather than designating a single frontperson, the band distributed vocal duties and instrumental responsibility fluidly across the lineup. This collaborative approach extended to composition and arrangement, where individual songs often seemed to contain multiple internal logics struggling for dominance.

The band’s early years were shaped by London’s underground rock ecosystem, a city that had long supported experimental and post-punk traditions. By 2017, that lineage was being reasserted by a new generation skeptical of stadium rock and nostalgia-driven revivals. Black Midi arrived into that context as a quartet possessed of formidable technical facility and a willingness to leave melodies unresolved and time signatures fractured.

Breakthrough Moment

Black Midi’s debut album, Schlagenheim, arrived in 2019 to immediate attention within the UK independent music press and progressive rock circles. The record announced a fully formed aesthetic: guitar lines that spiraled and doubled back on themselves, vocal lines that veered between speaking and singing, drums that seemed locked in perpetual polyrhythmic conversation with bass and guitars, and song structures that rejected verse-chorus repetition in favor of constant forward momentum and surprise. Tracks like the single “The Attic” and the sprawling opener “953” demonstrated that the band had no interest in radio-friendly brevity or predictability.

Schlagenheim positioned Black Midi as one of the most significant new rock acts of the late 2010s. The album’s uncompromising approach attracted listeners already fatigued by indie rock’s established templates. Within a year, the band had secured dates on festival bills and international touring opportunities that validated their claim as something beyond a UK curiosity.

Peak Era

The band’s most artistically and commercially successful period arrived between 2020 and 2022, spanning the release of The Black Midi Anthology, Vol. 1: Tales of Suspense and Revenge (2020), Cavalcade (2021), and Hellfire (2022). During this stretch, Matt Kwasniewski-Kelvin departed in 2020, shifting the band from a four-piece to a trio anchored by Greep and Picton’s dual vocals and multi-instrumental versatility, with Morgan Simpson’s drumming at the center. Session musicians and touring members—including multi-instrumentalist Seth Evans and saxophonist Kaidi Akinnibi—enriched the sound without displacing the core trio’s creative control.

Cavalcade in particular emerged as the band’s statement of maximum ambition. The album expanded their sonic palette into unexpected territories while maintaining the mathematical rigor and compositional density that defined them. By Hellfire in 2022, they had consolidated their position as one of rock’s most demanding and rewarding contemporary acts, with a fiercely devoted international audience willing to follow their restless aesthetic wherever it led.

Musical Style

Black Midi’s sound is predicated on the collision of multiple musical languages operating simultaneously. At its core lies math rock’s characteristic use of irregular time signatures, syncopated guitar riffs, and drumming that locks into intricate patterns rather than straightforward beats. Over this foundation, they layer post-punk vocal delivery—detached, often ironic, sometimes confrontational—alongside progressive rock’s appetite for instrumental virtuosity and complex arrangement. The addition of saxophone via Kaidi Akinnibi during live performances and on select recordings introduced an avant-jazz element that further complicated their palette.

Geordie Greep and Cameron Picton’s vocals function as instruments in their own right, deployed for texture and tone rather than traditional melodic presence. Their dual-lead approach invokes traditions of post-punk and art rock more than mainstream rock singing. The guitar work emphasizes dissonance, irregular phrasing, and textural experimentation—less about solos than about creating turbulent soundscapes. Morgan Simpson’s drumming is perhaps the most immediately virtuosic element, constantly shifting between metrically grounded foundations and abstract polyrhythmic excursions. The cumulative effect is music that sounds perpetually on the verge of collapse, yet remains intricately controlled.

Major Albums

Schlagenheim (2019)

The debut announced Black Midi as a fully formed entity, blending math rock precision with post-punk attitude and progressive ambition. Tracks like “The Attic” and “953” established the band’s refusal of conventional song structure and their commitment to disciplined chaos.

The Black Midi Anthology, Vol. 1: Tales of Suspense and Revenge (2020)

This release demonstrated the band’s capacity to sustain conceptual and musical intensity across multiple compositions, deepening their exploration of dissonance and unconventional arrangement in the space of a single calendar year.

Cavalcade (2021)

The trio’s first full-length as a three-piece, Cavalcade expanded their sonic reach while tightening their compositional focus. It remains their most adventurous work, introducing new instrumental colors and formal experiments that pushed beyond their debut’s template.

Hellfire (2022)

With Hellfire, the band achieved a synthesis of their accumulated experience, crafting their most cohesive album while maintaining the unpredictability and complexity that defined them. The record demonstrated maturation without sacrifice of their avant-garde commitments.

Signature Songs

• “The Attic” — A track from Schlagenheim that exemplifies the band’s refusal of conventional melody and structure, anchored by guitar and drums in constant rhythmic negotiation.
• “953” — The sprawling opener to Schlagenheim that introduces listeners to the band’s maximalist aesthetic and fractured time signatures.
• “Sweater” — A highlight from Cavalcade that demonstrates the trio’s ability to construct genuine emotional weight from unconventional compositional choices.
• “Dangerous Liaisons” — A showcase for the band’s vocal interplay and their capacity to merge post-punk sensibility with progressive complexity.

Influence on Rock

Black Midi represent a contemporary reassertion of experimental rock values at a moment when much mainstream rock music had become either nostalgia-driven or stylistically conservative. Their emergence alongside bands exploring similar territories—math rock revival, post-punk return, progressive ambition—has helped reestablish space in rock discourse for complexity, disorientation, and formal audacity. They have influenced a new generation of UK and international acts willing to prioritize compositional density over radio compatibility.

Their work demonstrates that rock music, as a form, remains capable of intellectual rigor and genuine experimentalism even in an era dominated by hip-hop and electronic music. The band’s commitment to live performance as a space for improvisation and spontaneous reinterpretation—evident in their frequent use of session musicians and touring collaborators—has reinforced the value of the rock band as a vehicle for collective creativity and risk-taking.

Legacy

As of 2024, Black Midi remain active and touring, with Seth Evans having departed the core unit by year’s end. Their run of albums from 2019 to 2022 has established them as a landmark group in contemporary experimental rock, comparable to other math rock and progressive acts of their era. While still in their mid-career phase, their influence is already apparent in the work of younger bands navigating similar terrain—bands willing to foreground instrumental complexity and compositional unpredictability over melodic accessibility.

Their streaming presence remains substantial, with Schlagenheim and Cavalcade particularly well-represented in algorithmic playlists devoted to math rock, experimental rock, and progressive music. The band’s refusal of commercial compromise has earned them critical respect and a devoted fanbase that follows their work with genuine investment, treating each new release as a test of their own aesthetic commitment.

Fun Facts

• The band’s name is drawn from black MIDI, a Japanese electronic music genre, yet their own music contains no direct sonic connection to that tradition—a conceptual gesture toward controlled abstraction rather than literal homage.
• Black Midi released Cavalcade: Covercade, a cover album companion to Cavalcade, demonstrating their engagement with reinterpretation and the malleability of existing compositions.
• The band’s reliance on session musicians and touring collaborators—particularly saxophonist Kaidi Akinnibi and multi-instrumentalist Seth Evans—reflects their openness to expanding their sound through live performance rather than album studio work alone.
• Morgan Simpson’s drumming has been repeatedly cited as the most immediately virtuosic element of the band’s sound, anchoring their complex arrangements with polyrhythmic precision.