Midlake : " For the Sake of Bethel Woods"

 Outside the sphere of what I normally listen there are a great many indie rock bands that slip through the cracks with me. I am very fluent in their names but with only so many hours in a day no matter how big they are I rarely get a time to put a dent in them. Midlake is one of these bands. When I press play on their new album, I cannot for the life of me have good reason as to why I have not listened to them until this point. They are moody and melodic in all the ways I like for this kind of music to be. Their drummer is really on it. There is a folk thing, but they are also very melancholy and thoughtful. Things get more soulful on "Glistening".  More proggy than folk, in the ways certain instruments flirt with math rock, the vocals are off doing their own thing. It works but does not flow as well as the previous song. 

The driving element to "Exile" hints at some subtle post-punk influence on this otherwise mellowed out indie rock. The band has stated they listen to way more Jethro Tull than Radiohead, but there older stuff came out sounding more like Radiohead anyway. I can hear the remerging influence of older prog in the atmospheric swell in the background. This is one of the more urgent vocal melodies thus far. Listened to "Feast of Carrison" a few times to soak in the lazy summer vibes that float by. More orchestrated and intricate in flow of songwriting that folk. The surreal coat of atmosphere to "Noble "causes the song to hit you like second hand pot smoke, in the dreamy journey it brings upon you. Finely layered textures find the song progressing before you realized it has moved. At the very least some pot was being smoked in the studio while they recorded "Gone" if not perhaps some trippier substances. The psychedelic touches are done in a smooth and sleek fashion.  

This is taken a step further so it sounds more like Brit pop on "Meanwhile". Think the Beatles without all the vocal harmonies. So in other words the Shins, but more stoned and not as happy. Some of the trippy falls on the shoulders of the synths. "Dawning" has a lot cooler groove to it. I love the lyrics to "the End" , no it's not the Doors song. It saunters along with the piano, thoughtfully poppy  The album closes with a dreamier almost Death Cab For Cutie like moment. There is dynamic range to it though with majestic swells.  I will round this up to a 10, as it will continue to grow on me.