The lo-fi rock quintet Midlake were formed in Denton, Texas, in 2000 by a group of musicians who had attended the North Texas School of Music together: Paul Alexander (bass, keyboards), Eric Nichelson (keyboards, guitar), Eric Pulido (guitar, keyboards, background vocals), Tim Smith (vocals, keyboards, guitar), and Mckenzie Smith (drums). They issued their own EP, Milkmaid Grand Army, in 2001, and sold 1,000 copies at their Texas gigs. They attracted the attention of Simon Raymonde, who signed them to his Bella Union label in the U.K., leading to European concerts and the recording of their first full-length album, Bamnan and Slivercork, which was released in July 2004. For their next album, Midlake changed gears and moved away from the psychedelic leanings of their debut toward a more ’70s-influenced sound. Released in 2006, The Trials of Van Occupanther featured the same lineup and a sound reminiscent of harmony-rich soft rock bands like America and Laurel Canyon troubadours like Neil Young and Gene Clark. The band stopped touring the following year to begin work on a new album. The resulting LP, The Courage of Others, arrived in February 2010.
In 2011 Midlake joined the ranks of bands like the Flaming Lips, Groove Armada, and Belle & Sebastian by releasing an installment of Late Night Tales, a series of mix albums from the independent record label of the same name, which asks artists to “compile an album of their favorite music that inspired them to make music their profession.” That year they headed to Buffalo, Texas and began writing new material for their fourth album. After playing a few live shows in 2012, lead singer and songwriter Smith decided to leave the band and formed a new project, Harp. Undeterred by his departure, the remaining members returned to the studio and scrapped two years of work to start from scratch. Pulido was installed on lead vocals and new members Jesse Chandler (piano/flute) and Joey McClellan (guitar) joined the outfit. They wrote and recorded their fourth release, Antiphon, in six months and released it in October 2013.
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Members of Midlake have rounded up a group of their friends to start a new group called BNQT, pronounced “banquet.” The group features 5 lead singers–Ben Bridwell of Band of Horses, Alex Kapranos of Franz Ferdinand, Jason Lytle of Grandaddy, Fran Healy of Travis, and Midlake’s Eric Pulido–and have released Vol. 1, a 10-song album of originals, earlier this year via the label Bella Union/Dualtone.
The concept came to Pulido whilst he was touring Midlake’s 2013 album Antiphon. Pulido wanted to gather a number of contrasting yet complementary artists he’d befriended or shared the stage with and establish an environment in which they could collaborate. Pulido said “That’s what art is about for me, creating with other people that you love and appreciate.”
Due to members being spread around the world, recordings were either done through travel to Denton or remotely over the internet. Each band member contributed two songs to the album.
The British Independent newspaper offered this review: “Despite their diversity, a mood is sustained through Midlake’s arrangements, which draw on fond ‘70s influences, from the glam-rock boogie of “Restart” to the sweeping yacht-rock sheen of “Unlikely Force”. In most cases, the songs locate almost perfect surroundings: Healy’s “Mind Of A Man” is persuasively anthemic, while Kapranos’s enigmatic “Hey Banana”, draped in bells and strings, takes on a personality akin to Love’s Arthur Lee. Jason Lytle is particularly well-served by the orchestrations applied to the prancing pop of “100 Million Miles” and the more sensitive “Failing At Feeling”, a gorgeously melancholic outtake from Grandaddy’s recent break-up album.”
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On October 25, 2021, Midlake announced the release date for their fifth full-length album, For the Sake of Bethel Woods, due March 18, 2022 on ATO Records in North America and on Bella Union in Europe.
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