As Midlake took to the stage on Saturday at the O2 ABC, I could say there was a certain nervous excitement amongst the audience, but that would probably be bending the truth a bit for my own dramatic purposes. Most of the gig-goers seemed to be bearded and hardy; grizzled veterans already liquored up and at ease. However, I have to admit that I felt somewhat tentative about Midlake’s performance. After all, the Texan rock group recently parted ways with founding frontman Tim Smith and, with Eric Pulido (lead guitar) on vocals, released their fourth studio album, Antiphon, in November of 2013. The changing of a frontman can have a significant effect on a band’s energy and structure. One only has to look to Genesis and remember what impact Peter Gabriel’s departure had on the musicality of the band. Despite these fears, however, ‘Antiphon’ maintains the dreamy melancholia of the band’s back catalogue, whilst also displaying a dynamism and energy that is refreshing yet simultaneously instinctive.
In keeping with this new outlook, the band opened with ‘Ages’, the lead guitar’s near-atonal twangs in sync with brilliant bursts of golden light, creating a somewhat dramatic illumination of the six Texan rockers. All worries of Pulido’s vocal ability are dispelled as he soars through the notes, his bandmates lending their voices to create a formidable harmony. Majestic soundscapes are driven by full-bodied synthesizer effects (the band utilise two keyboardists, Evan Jacobs and Jesse Chandler, who also play flute and guitar respectively). Peppered amongst all of this are eccentric, almost spontaneous guitar phrases. Paul Alexander (bass) provides a much needed warm rhythmic backbone as McKenzie Smith’s (drums) spirited playing is both exciting and reverent of the band’s prog influences.
As the band tackle ‘Rulers, Rulers of All Things’, from ‘The Courage of Others’, their last album with Tim Smith, the change in both mood and musicality is stark. The melancholy of the song acts as both an ode to their darker past and a nod to Midlake’s growth. The crowd, including myself, seems enraptured as Pulido arguably betters the original, his husky voice belting out heart-felt lines about isolation and existentialism.
‘It’s Going Down’ furthers ‘Ages’ strong rhythmic motif, opening with startling rigidity as punchy guitar licks make way to gentle flute lines before the structure dissolves into dreamy keyboard melodies. Pulido sings the chorus, his bandmates croon, choir-like in response, symbolising the album’s title ‘Antiphon’, a ‘call and response’. Needless to say, the album itself is a response to Midlake’s creative liberation. Tim Smith once said “I want to sound more like Jethro Tull, but I just can’t. That’s a big struggle.” Ironically with his leaving, Antiphon has accomplished exactly that with its groovy melodies, diverse synth effects and progressive rhythms. Smith’s high-handed creative process perhaps caused him to overlook what was there all along.
Much to the crowd’s delight, the band treated us to ‘Roscoe’, one of the band’s hits from ‘Van Occupanther’. This song, along with ‘Young Bride’, ‘Bandits’, ‘Head Home’ and ‘We Gathered in Spring’ from the same album represent, to me, the height of folky, stripped-down Midlake. The band shows us that the complexity of Antiphon, however interesting, is not entirely necessary in order for them to candidly express some of their best music.
Without pause, Midlake march on with ‘The Old and the Young’, another track from ‘Antiphon’, Paul Alexander (bass) providing a rolling, progressive rhythm; the song’s naturalistic lyrics harking back to Van Occupanther, speaking of self-sacrifice, physical toil and the changing of seasons. While Smith’s jaded outlook is all but absent from ‘Antiphon’, there’s a certain reverence that can be found in all of Midlake’s music. It is a reverence for nature and the earth (‘We Gathered in Spring’, ‘Fortune’, ‘Core of Nature’, ‘Provider’) and for the ways of old (‘Roscoe’, ‘Winter Dies’, ‘Aurora Gone’). Antiphon explores these themes with a refreshingly optimistic perspective. It’s a peculiar album in the sense that it pays more than its fair share of tribute to 70s prog rock influences (Jethro Tull, King Crimson, Pink Floyd) whilst still sounding very modern, with its concise structure, stellar production and utilisation of diverse digital keyboard effects.
The band concludes their three song encore with ‘Provider Reprise’, a trippy, melodic take on the original of the song (track two on Antiphon) that throws off the cadenced structure of the rest of the album in a pleasing, tranquil manner. Evan Jacobs proves multi-talented, skilfully playing poignant melodies on the flute while the band climax in a flurry of acoustic guitars and cacophonous drums. As Midlake leave the stage, quietly triumphant, the crowd cheering them on; I can’t help but feel that while the band may recede into obscurity one day, it would not be this day, nor would Antiphon be their concluding work.
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