Midlake have announced the release of their eagerly awaited fifth studio album. FOR THE SAKE OF BETHEL WOODS arrives via ATO Records in the US and Bella Union in the UK on Friday, March 18, 2022; pre-orders are available now. The Texas-based band’s first new music since 2013’s Antiphon, FOR THE SAKE OF BETHEL WOODS, is heralded by today’s premiere of the vibrant first single, “Meanwhile…,” available now at all DSPs and streaming services; an official lyric video is streaming now at YouTube.
“’Meanwhile…’ is a song referencing the time in between what transpired leading up to our hiatus in ‘14, and what inspired us to reconvene in ’20,” says lead singer Eric Pulido. “The former being an unhealthy and unsustainable place that called for pause and the latter a serendipitous visit from Jesse’s late father (Dave Chandler, depicted on the album cover) in a dream encouraging him to reunite with the band. Everyone had their respective experience during the uncertain time apart culminating in a confident and celebratory return to form.”
WATCH “MEANWHILE…” OFFICIAL LYRIC VIDEO
Midlake will celebrate their long-overdue return with a North American tour schedule, kicking off October 28 at Fort Worth, TX’s Tulips and then traveling into 2022. Highlights include a very special two-night event alongside The Flaming Lips, set for December 30 and New Year's Eve at The Caverns in Pelham, TN, a subterranean music venue renowned for its prehistoric natural acoustics and otherworldly beauty. For complete details and ticket information, please visit www.midlakeband.com/tour.
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, FOR THE SAKE OF BETHEL WOODS marks Midlake’s fifth full-length release and first time recording with an outside producer. The result is an album of immersive warmth and mystery from a landmark band once feared lost by fans, but here revived with freshness and constancy of intent. A desire to commune with the past and connect with the present, lived experience asserts itself throughout songs such as “Bethel Woods” – named of course for the site of 1969’s original 37-acre Woodstock festival field – and the sky-scraping space-rock of “Exile.” That same resonant spirit is further embodied by the instantly memorable cover art, designed by pro skateboarder/filmmaker/visual artist Brian Lotti and featuring a striking photo of keyboardist/flautist Jesse Chandler’s father, who tragically passed away in 2018.
“At age 16 my father and his friend hitchhiked from Ridgewood, NJ to the Woodstock festival in 1969,” says Chandler. “This image of him with his hand to his face appears in the 1970 Woodstock documentary, as the camera pans across the crowd during John Sebastian’s set. My father actually ended up moving to Woodstock, NY – where I grew up – in 1981. For me, the picture of that kid, my dad, forever frozen in time, encapsulates what it means to be in the throes of impressionable and fleeting youth, and all that the magic of music, peace, love, and communion bring to it, whether one knows it at the time or not. (I think he knew it).”
A powerful, warming expression of resolve and renewal, FOR THE SAKE OF BETHEL WOODS, opens new futures for Midlake while still honoring their now storied history. Formed in the small town of Denton, TX, the band delivered an auspicious debut with 2004’s Bamnan and Slivercork, followed two years later by 2006’s wondrous and much beloved The Trials of Van Occupanther, both now rightfully hailed as modern classics. Bolstered by a growing fanbase and a developed sense of their own far-reaching abilities, Midlake evinced a characteristic embrace of change by visiting darker psych-folk terrain on 2010’s The Courage of Others while also backing John Grant on that same year’s milestone album, Queen of Denmark. Guitarist Eric Pulido stepped into the role of lead vocalist with 2013’s exploratory Antiphon, joined by new members Jesse Chandler (keyboards, piano, flute) and Joey McClellan (guitars).
Since then, Midlake have been active on an array of fronts, including the all-star project BNQT, founded by Pulido and featuring Fran Healy (Travis), Alex Kapranos (Franz Ferdinand), Ben Bridwell (Band of Horses), and Jason Lytle (Grandaddy), backed by Chandler, McClellan, and Midlake drummer McKenzie Smith.
Midlake is: Eric Pulido, Eric Nichelson, McKenzie Smith, Jesse Chandler, and Joey McClellan.
MIDLAKE
FOR THE SAKE OF BETHEL WOODS
(ATO)
Release Date: Friday, March 18, 2022
