Medicine at Midnight (2021)

Medicine at Midnight is the tenth studio album by American rock band Foo Fighters. It was released through Roswell and RCA Records on February 5, 2021, after having its release be pushed out of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Produced by Greg Kurstin and the band, the album shows a slight shift in the band's style, pairing their usual rock sound with elements of dance-rock and pop. It is the final Foo Fighters studio album to feature drummer Taylor Hawkins before his death the following year.

Five singles were released for the album: "Shame Shame" in November 2020, "No Son of Mine" on New Year's Day 2021, "Waiting on a War" in January 2021, "Making a Fire" in June 2021, and "Love Dies Young" in November 2021. The album received generally positive reviews from critics and earned three Grammy Awards: Best Rock Album, Best Rock Song (for "Waiting on a War") and Best Rock Performance (for "Making a Fire").

Background and recording

After releasing their ninth studio album, Concrete and Gold, in 2017, and touring extensively behind it through much of 2018, the Foo Fighters announced they would be taking a break in October 2018, with frontman Dave Grohl stating that although they needed a rest, he already had some initial ideas for the band's next album. The break would last for less than a year, as by August 2019, drummer Taylor Hawkins reported that Grohl had already been demoing material by himself, and that the rest of the members planned to start contributing shortly thereafter. The band collectively started recording for the album in October 2019. The following month, Grohl described the band as being "right in the middle" of the recording process, and that the album was sounding "fucking weird".

The album was recorded in a large, old house from the 1940s in Encino, Los Angeles. Recording sessions proceeded quickly, something Grohl attributed two things – that the material was progressing quickly and that they were recording in an environment where strange things kept happening. Grohl recalled:

"I knew the vibes were definitely off, but the sound was fucking on. We would come back to the studio the next day and all of the guitars would be detuned. Or the setting we'd put on the [mixing] board, all of them had gone back to zero. We would open up a Pro Tools session and tracks would be missing. There were some tracks that were put on there that we didn't put on there. But just like weird open mic noises. Nobody playing an instrument or anything like that, just an open mic recording a room."

Grohl noted that they captured unexplainable footage on video, but due to a non-disclosure agreement with the house's owner, who was attempting to sell the property, the footage cannot be shown. The experiences would end serving as inspiration for a comedy horror film starring the Foo Fighters, Studio 666. Contrary to the Concrete and Gold sessions, which frequently ended in nights of large cookouts, drinking, and parties, the sessions were wrapped up as quickly as possible. In February 2020, Grohl confirmed that the album was finished.

Composition and themes

Writers described the album's sound as alternative rock, hard rock, pop rock, power pop, and dance-rock. Grohl likened the album's sound to David Bowie's Let's Dance album, with him explaining that it's "not like a EDM, disco, [or] modern dance record" but rather "this really up, fun record" that is "filled with anthemic, huge, sing-along rock songs." Hawkins described the album as being more "pop-oriented" than prior releases, different from their usual post-grunge sound. He also noted the use of a drum loop on the album, another atypical trait for the band. The song "Cloudspotter" contains a guitar riff that Grohl wrote 25 years earlier in Seattle but was unable to work into a song previously. Grohl stated, "Some of those songs, the best ones happen in 45 minutes. Then there's other songs — there's a riff on the new record I’ve been working on for 25 years. The first time I demoed it was in my basement in Seattle." Grohl stated that the album's overall style was inspired by the Foo Fighters' "love of rock bands that make these upbeat, up-tempo, almost danceable records".