"Bethel Woods" - Midlake
Some bands have a "sound" that resonates with people on a deeply personal level. For me, the Texas-based indie rock Midlake is one such band. If you know and love the band and their catalog of work you'll recognize this emotional connection immediately. The latest single, their first in 10 years, features that familiar tone of dreamy keyboards, stinging guitars, melodic bass and drums, and dreamy harmony vocals wrapped in a slightly prog/indie vibe.
Produced, engineered, and mixed by GRAMMY® Award-winner John Congleton (St. Vincent, Explosions in the Sky, Sharon Van Etten) at Elmwood Recording Studio in Dallas, TX, he affords the band organic clarity and nuanced tones and textures. The galloping beat is relentless and utterly catchy.
According to Midlake's Eric Pulido. "‘Bethel Woods' lyrically was born out of a documentary film still of our keyboardist Jesse Chandler's dad, Dave, at 16-years-old, sitting in the massive crowd of Woodstock in 1969. I felt that moment in time embodied the perfect depiction of a paradisal place. Dave tragically died a few years ago and I was moved to write this song from his point of view with a message of peace in returning to that special place and reuniting with loved ones 'down the road.'"
The haunting video directed by Brantley Gutierrez (Tom Petty, Diplo, Paul McCartney) features the actors Michael Peña (The Shield, Ant-Man, Narcos), Danielle Dallacco, Malakai Lopez, and Dylan Winters. He wanted to explore past memories, approaching the narrative like a ghost story if you will; how one becomes attached to memories and thus reuniting with loved ones.
New album For The Sake Of Bethel Woods (ATO Records) will be released out on March 18; pre-orders are available now, and a world tour beginning in Nashville on March 16, 2022.