Great Are the Sounds of All That Live and All That Man Can Hold

The Courage of Others, the new album by Texas 70s-style rockers Midlake got released three days ago and according to Tim Smith the frontman, they didn’t like their 3rd effort to sound like 2006’s The Trials of Van Occupanther. So there are no “Roscoe”s or “We Gathered In Spring”-like hits and Smith's voice does not use its flexible features. He’s mostly baritone and serious. There are more acoustic intentions comparing to their other works but still you hear all those meditative melodies as if you’re camping in the middle of the woods. I found so much beauty in the opener and to be honest, I didn’t find such solemn anywhere else on the disk. By the way the album art is just horrible! (It's not what you see in the pic. That's the single! You ain't seen nothing yet!) You really ought to be a curious eye to find this appealing when picking up the item in a music store, but what can you do when you hear the sympathetic flute on “Acts of Man”?

[mp3] Midlake "Acts of Man"

* Buy Courage of Others
* Midlake official / MySpace