Midlake : A Bridge To Far

Midlake were a much obsessed over, nearly cult-like band back in the 2000s. With singer and main songwriter Tim Smith, Midlake made two highly exalted records in Bamnan and Slivercork and The Trials of Van Occupanther. The Denton, TX-based band made an outsider art record with the former, and the latter was revered for it’s ornate, 70s-heavy music and sci-fi-meets-medieval times lyrical content. Tim Smith’s subtle vocals added an eerie calm to the proceedings. There really wasn’t any other bands doing what Midlake were doing and that made them all the more interesting and confounding all at once.

Midlake released one more record with front man Tim Smith, 2010s The Courage Of Others, before Smith decided he couldn’t continue on with the band. His perfectionism was putting the band behind and he didn’t want to be the reason they would be forever stuck on putting out new music. So guitarist Eric Pulido stepped up as lead singer and the band wrote Antiphon in six months, releasing in 2013. Since then the band has released one other album, For The Sake Of Bethel Woods in 2022, as well as solo projects and collaborations, including a collaborative record with singer John Grant(Queen of Denmark),

Midlake have returned with A Bridge To Far, a low-key and moody record that sees a band still bringing intricate musicianship and songwriting prowess front and center.

A Bridge To Far feels like an old record. Like some jazz-inflected rock album unearthed in a dusty bin of some downtown record shop. An album that owes as much to Soft Machine as it does Alan Parsons. Songs like “Days Gone By”, title track “A Bridge To Far”, and “Make Haste” feel very proggy in spirit. Subtle grooves, buzzy guitar shots, and hazy vocals feel made for drawn-out jams and musical flexing. It’s all about a mood and a feel. “The Calling”, on the other hand, sort of feels out of place here with its distorted film over top and driving rhythm. It’s not bad, just feels like it should be on a different album.

Elsewhere “Lion’s Den” sounds like the Moody Blues and Alan Parson, while closer “Valley of Roseless Thorns” brings to mind Tim Smith-era Midlake both in it’s lyrical content and gentle acoustic feel.

Midlake continue to make thoughtful, artful rock music. A Bridge To Far is another solid record from the Denton collective.