Midnight Dive’s new single, ‘The Graduate’ - Bringing DIY bedroom pop back
- Bea Vasques
- Apr 12, 2025
- 2 min read
In Landslide, Stevie Nicks poses a poignant existential question which has transcended time and even generations: “Can I handle the seasons of my life?” Sooner or later, we’ll likely find ourselves musing over this exact same interrogation – who will we be after a significant life change?
Law student turned singer-songwriter, Cheyanne Sawyer, aka midnight dive (a project born out of Cheyanne’s songwriting minor), is the latest project musing on this age old question. The Graduate, the latest single from the LA-based artist, focuses on themes of loneliness, graduate blues, and the gut-wrenching feeling of finding yourself in incompatible life stages with your friends.
“There were a few important moments that inspired the song, like graduation day itself, when I realised that a chapter in my life was closing, or my first day of law school that solidified my notion that everything in my life was changing around me,” Cheyanne tells us.
The Graduate has beautifully raw lyrics, with a clear standout being “and now I’ll run away, ‘cause I’ll still see your face if I have to stay,” which depicts a complex friendship that, despite physical proximity, has grown emotionally distant. The song pairs its lyricism with a DIY minimalistic production which skilfully blends echo and reverb (Cheyanne recounts that the song was produced on Logic Pro X on top of her university dorm bed), further strengthening the nostalgia and vulnerability of the single – creating a cohesive, textured experience that resembles the lyrical and sonic honesty of early 2000s emo.
Quoting Phoebe Bridgers’ lyrical stream of consciousness, Searows’ dreamy lo-fi production style, and Paramore as influences, Cheyanne explains she began teaching herself to play piano in high school, quickly switching to electric guitar, realising that “the Paramore songs she wanted to play would sound way cooler on an electric guitar.” She describes her production style as “as DIY as it gets,” which is certainly needed in an industry that has trouble slowing down and sitting with itself.
Future-wise, Cheyanne reveals she is working on new songs with similar sonic influences to The Graduate and hopes to release an EP soon, as well as explore the exciting possibility of branching out to different facets of the indie genre, such as indie rock or shoegaze. The Graduate is a clear reminder that oftentimes, authenticity, self-reflection, a university dorm bed, and a bedroom guitar are all you need for a beautiful track to flourish.
Follow midnight dive on Instagram.
WORDS BEA VASQUES
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