Midlake - For the Sake of Bethel Woods (Album Review)
Thursday, 24 March 2022
Written by Jacob Brookman
Photo: Barbara FG
Nine years after the release of their fourth (and many thought, final) album, Texan indie-proggers Midlake have returned with an album of deft, intricate songs that land between the dreamy satire of Grizzly Bear and the low slung mysticism of Grandaddy.
It’s an approach that can feel pedestrian at times, but which reveals a deep well of musical and intellectual curiosity from its creators, one that can grow to be hugely meditative and pure-sounding.
One of the reasons for that is the care behind the storytelling. ‘For the Sake of Bethel Woods’ was partly inspired by a dream-visitation from the father of guitarist and flautist Jesse Chandler.
In the dream, Dave Chandler suggested the band should get back together, and the front cover features an image of Dave at Woodstock, the festival held at Bethel Woods in 1969.
The music itself is smart and intricate. Tracks such as Glistening and Noble are delicate, dream-like encounters, full of elegant harmonies, subtle non-musical elements and floating textures. The latter track is named for drummer McKenzie Smith’s son, who was born with a rare brain disorder, but who continues to live with joy. “Oh, please stay by my side,” go the lyrics. “Your yoke is easy / And burden light.”
Despite such moving, arresting stuff, the album lives for the most part in the rumbling mid-range. Within this, Exile is an excellent, building guitar track, and Feast of Carrion—the centrepiece of the record—is a fine, sprawling song full of musical turns and lush arrangements. It also has a darling digression into a yacht-rock woodland glade, which is quite an impressive flex for such a seemingly introverted band.
Midlake are at their strongest when their main sound is allowed to bed in, much like Pink Floyd or, at a push, Jethro Tull. But modern tastes are not really attuned to the thrusting virtuosity those bands embodied and, maybe because of this, Midlake’s sound can sometimes feel like it’s playing with lower stakes. But ‘For the Sake of Bethel Woods’ is a highly successful album on its own terms, and with live music returning this summer, one hopes there are a lot more imaginative investigations to come.
Midlake Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows:
Tue April 05 2022 - BRIGHTON Chalk
Wed April 06 2022 - LONDON Roundouse
Fri April 08 2022 - NEWCASTLE University Students Union
Sat April 09 2022 - EDINBURGH Assembly Rooms
Sun April 10 2022 - MANCHESTER Albert Hall
Mon April 11 2022 - DUBLIN Vicar Street
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