Album: Midlake - For the Sake of Bethel Woods | reviews, news & interviews
Album: Midlake - For the Sake of Bethel Woods
Album: Midlake - For the Sake of Bethel Woods
Despite the Woodstock references, veteran US band embraces its own present
Saturday, 12 March 2022
Midlake's 'For the Sake of Bethel Woods': watch out for a dash of Moody Blues
After a count in, the first lines of album opener "Commune" are “I’ve been away now far too long, lost and alone with no commune.” Fair enough. For the Sake of Bethel Woods is Midlake’s first album since 2013’s Antiphon.
The second track is “Bethel Woods”. Eric Pulido sings “I could get rid of it all for the sake of the Bethel Woods, to a time and place where peacefulness was stood.” Upstate New York’s Bethel Woods was the site of 1969’s Woodstock Festival. Midlake’s flute/keyboard player Jesse Chandler grew up in Bethel. The album’s sleeve image draws from a fleeting shot of his now-passed father as caught in the Woodstock film. So are Midlake tapping into their collective pasts as an inspiration?
Partly. During the post-Antiphon interregnum there were Pulido’s albums as BNQT and E.B. The Younger. Chandler worked with Mercury Rev, Susanne Sundfør and more. Guitarist Joey McClellan and drummer McKenzie Smith run the busy Redwood Studio in Midlake's base-town Denton, Texas (McClellan has recently recorded with Joana Serrat). Only keyboard player Eric Nichelson has kept his musical counsel. Consequent to all this, the Midlake of 2022 cannot be the Midlake of 2013.
Yet “Bethel Woods,” “Noble,” the ELO-esque “Meanwhile...” and the Mercury Rev-nodding album closer “Of Desire” could have been included on Antiphon. Each is wonderful, drifts and has a hard edge within the enveloping aural fog. Elsewhere, opening-out the stylistic envelope, there’s the skittery “Glistening”, the terrific “Exile” with its vague Ocean Rain Echo & The Bunnymen feel and “Feast of Carrion”, which edges towards the prog territory of The Moody Blues. While encompassing new flavours, the lovely For the Sake of Bethel Woods is nonetheless recognisably and resolutely a Midlake album. It’s a trip too. Psychedelic. But it’s not a consolidation. Instead, the reconstituted Midlake interpret strands of their past to embrace the present.
‘For the Sake of Bethel Woods’ encompasses new flavours, it is not a consolidation
rating
Share this article
The future of Arts Journalism
You can stop theartsdesk.com closing!
We urgently need financing to survive. Our fundraising drive has thus far raised £33,000 but we need to reach £100,000 or we will be forced to close. Please contribute here: https://gofund.me/c3f6033d
And if you can forward this information to anyone who might assist, we’d be grateful.
Subscribe to theartsdesk.com
Thank you for continuing to read our work on theartsdesk.com. For unlimited access to every article in its entirety, including our archive of more than 15,000 pieces, we're asking for £5 per month or £40 per year. We feel it's a very good deal, and hope you do too.
To take a subscription now simply click here.
And if you're looking for that extra gift for a friend or family member, why not treat them to a theartsdesk.com gift subscription?
more New music
Album review - How Did This Happen and What Does It Now Mean, Joan Armatrading
Held in love and affection
Album: FaithNYC - Love is a Wish Away
Wonderfully produced off-piste music
English Teacher, Queen Margaret Union, Glasgow review - Mercury winners step up in size with style
The Leeds quartet's set was varied in genre but thrilling when punchy
Album: Father John Misty - Mahashmashana
The flawless union of style and substance
Kenny Barron Trio, Ronnie Scott's review - a master of the cool
Eloquent story-telling from jazz giant
Album: Body Count - Merciless
Ice goes on autopilot
Music Reissues Weekly: Magazine - Real Life, Secondhand Daylight, The Correct Use of Soap
The first three albums from Howard Devoto’s post-punk marvels hit the shops again
Bob Dylan, Royal Albert Hall review - cracked ritual from rock elder
A glorious mixture of mask and authenticity
ARK: United States V by Laurie Anderson, Aviva Studios, Manchester review - a vessel for the thoughts and imaginings of a lifetime
Despite anticipating disaster, this mesmerising voyage is full of hope
Album: Linkin Park - From Zero
California metal icons mark new era with captivating eighth album
Rachel Chinouriri, Queen Margaret Union, Glasgow review - a formidable and genre-hopping talent
The singer lifted elements from throughout pop history during an exciting set
Album: Jon Batiste - Beethoven Blues
Beethoven's hits reimagined by the American musical celebrity
Add comment