There is a heady out of time quality to previous Midlake albums which are anchored in our deeply troubled world yet serenely stands above it. Their latest release, the band’s fifth and their first since 2013, is in as similar vein.
‘For The Sake Of Bethel Woods’ is a concept album of sorts driven by a desire to reconnect with an idyllic past and find a sense of purpose in the present.
The opening line of the opening track - Commune - acknowledges the folk-prog band’s unplanned hiatus when Eric Pulido sings: “I have been away for far too long, lost and alone with no communion.”
A clue to the key themes can be found in the grainy cover shot of keyboardist/flautist Jesse Chandler’s father who passed away in 2018. This mentally directs us to the famed site of the Woodstock Festival in Bethel Woods since the image is a still from the 1970 documentary of this momentous event taken during John Sebastian’s set when his father was 17. Chandler says: “For me, the picture of that kid, my dad, forever frozen in time encapsulates what it means to be in the throes of impressionable and fleeting youth, and all that the magic of music, peace, love and communion bring to it, whether one knows it at the time or not.”
The flute and CSN &Y-esque harmonies in Feast of Carrion reference the hippy dream and the album’s publicity blurb celebrates the head in the clouds mood. For instance, we are informed that the arpeggios in Glistening “dance like light glancing off a lake.”
Most of the recording was done during the 2020 lockdown and the forced retreat from external distractions allowed the band a vital space in which to remain focused. John Congleton, produced, engineered and mixed the album, making it the first Midlake record with an outside producer.
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Somehow they manage to avoid the project becoming just another self-absorbed nostalgia trip by grounding the album in the real world and avoiding sentimentalism.
In the album’s softest moments there are shades of Sufyan Stevens' rich melodies while the soft-rock stylings have echoes of Jonathan Wilson.
The muddy rock guitars of Exile have a contemporary resonance and the powerful closing track (Of Desire) advocates letting go of what you can’t control and being realistic of what can be achieved in these uncertain times.
A key track is the emotionally charged Noble written for and about drummer McKenzie Smith’s infant son, born with a rare brain disorder. Pulido, says: “I wrote the song from his perspective in a way, his expression to me of how he had been feeling towards his son. And then among the lament of his condition, it’s also embracing this child who has only joy. Noble doesn’t know that he has a condition, he just loves life. And smiles, and is so innocent, and perfect in so many ways.”
In the funk-rock tune Gone Pulido sings “I wonder why we even try” but despite such pessimistic sentiments the songs exude a warm and fuzzy glow and could come with the tagline ‘hope springs eternal’.
Midlake’s website
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