“Sometime Around Midnight” by The Airborne Toxic Event

"Sometime Around Midnight" is the slow-burning centerpiece of the Airborne Toxic Event's self-titled 2008 debut, and it's a whole bad night compressed into one song. Mikel Jollett wrote it after running into a former girlfriend in a bar, with the whole band there to see it, and realizing he still loved her. He spent the next three days alone writing the words.

Pete Min produced, recorded and mixed it, and the build is relentless: Anna Bulbrook's viola keens, Jollett and Steven Chen stack up the electric guitars, and Noah Harmon's bass and Daren Taylor's drums push it toward a breathless climax. iTunes named it its top alternative song of 2008, and Island sent it out in the UK as the second single in early 2009. It got 2 videos: Jason Wishnow's literal retelling, and a surreal one from D.J. Caruso showing Jollett writing the song.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.