Midlake's new album confronts nature, turns away

Midlake

"The Courage of Others"

4.5 Stars

When strong acoustic folk is rudely interrupted by equally powerful psychedelic elements, the result is an odd genre that might best describe Midlake's "The Courage of Others" — freak folk. But Midlake's sound on this album is much more polished, much more restrained. The wailing guitar psychedelia is often tempered by its acoustic counterparts, serving more as an intro to a melody or a way to measure meter. The lyrics hold the secret to understanding the logic behind this approach.

The lyrics concern a need to appreciate nature's privacy — and the fear of actually confronting it. The lead track and single, "Acts of Man," expresses these values outright. Vocalist Tim Smith's fragile crooning begs, "Let all that runs through the fields, through the quiet / Go on with their own, on with their own hidden ways." But later he exhibits his own fear when he predicts, "When the acts of men cause the ground to break open / Oh let me inside, let me inside, not to wake." This self-referential material reveals Smith's personal stake in this album, making it quite a departure from the band's previous work, which revolved around the fictitious character "Van Occupanther."

The best example of their instrumental triumphs is "Winter Dies," a song that begins with a Spanish-influenced acoustic guitar confidently doling out the main rhythm. Pattering cymbals ask permission to be let in, and soon the drum's place on the track is affirmed with big snare hits. Afterward, a screaming guitar froths at the mouth beside the modestly plucking acoustic. It dies down, only to screech back into the foreground, struggling for supremacy against the other instruments.

The album's electric intrusions are the manifestation of Smith's fear of change. Eventually, on the final track, he plainly admits, "I will never have the courage of others." A shrieking guitar then enters the bridge, surging through the fearful, darting woodwinds and ripping his peaceful world apart with a jagged solo. The song that follows and ends the album suggests the ominous conclusion with its title: "In the Ground."