FOR THE SAKE OF BETHEL WOODS

Apart from a few tours and re-releases that included a bonus track or two, the MIDLAKE camp has been quiescent in the last few years. If their website mentioned that most members had been involved in solo and collaborative projects, I missed the missive. Apparently many followers had begun to assume that the savvy "Antiphon" would be their finale, and now, 9 long years hence, we have "For the Sake of Bethel Woods", inspired by the apparition of Jesse Chandler's late father in a dream, who besought him to reform the band.

In MIDLAKE's two masterpieces "Trials of Van Occupanther" (2006) and "Courage of Others" (2010) were revealed their grand strengths, chiefly interests across the prog/folk/rock boundaries and a blending of seemingly uninflected compositions and arrangements into paradoxically magnificent mood music. The first was a Laurel Canyon tribute, the second a modernized UK folk rock love letter to the Earth. On the aforementioned "Antiphon", a schism between a punchier side 1 and a more experimental side 2 was nonetheless expertly handled.

On this new release, MIDLAKE has dusted off and oiled its blender but the influences span many decades, from CSNY to COLDPLAY. Eric Pulido's voice has strengthened but the production has accentuated a degree of breathlessness throughout, and also seems to have compressed the space in which they can reach us, a poor decision for a folk rock group. Most tracks do serve us wonderful passages, but the opus lacks anything approaching a masterpiece to anchor all, and, most discouragingly, it doesn't even seem like they are trying to hit those highs. It's as if they now doubt themselves and are afraid to fall flat on their faces, so they pull back and settle for good enough, which, for MIDLAKE, isn't.

The opener "Commune" is probably my favorite 54 second track in recent memory, and could easily be my pick for the album, but, well, it's only 54 seconds long. Shame. The closest we get to a memorable run is the trio of "Exile", "Feast of Carrion", and "Noble", with (for them) dramatic driving passages, pastoral flute, and vocal climaxes, focusing the sturdiness of the previous albums. The psych and prog aspects are still visible elsewhere, for instance in "Glistening", which, while only 4 minutes in length, is a mini suite, albeit flawed.

Any new effort from MIDLAKE is worth hearing, and I'm even piqued enough to consider diving into a few partial group productions of recent years, but given my unfair demands, it's no surprise that I'm somewhat disappointed by "Bethel Woods". Yeah it's still MIDLAKE but they seem more down than usual, or maybe, shudder, they're just tired.