Audio By Carbonatix
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Well, today’s the day that almost four-year wait for Midlake‘s The Courage of Others, what with all the pressures it holds, comes to an end. Which means, yessir, it’s about time for you head on out to Good Records or wherever and buy you a copy–or so The New York Times and Paste seem to imply with their reviews of the album, each of which was posted to those products’ respective sites yesterday.
Says the Times‘ Nate Chinen of the disc:
Sylvan and solemn, gorgeous and a little listless, The Courage of Others feels like the sincerest kind of put-on. For a band still based in Denton, Tex., there’s an awful lot here about wintry privations, maidens and servants and lords… But there’s a strong presence to the album, with its meticulous atmosphere and granite consistency of tone. [Read the whole thing here.]
Says Paste‘s Bart Blasengame:
It’s a much darker, oppressively minor-key world where songs have a
madrigal lilt, vocals are layered like sediment, guitars (mostly
acoustic) are gently strummed, echoing flutes and droning Floyd-ian
keyboards provide atmosphere, and where there is much moping all
around. This isn’t metal, but thematically, at least, it’s just as
heavy. [Read the whole thing here.]
Says I? To paraphrase myself, it’s a depressing listen, for sure. But an impressively and rewardingly depressing one, as impossible as that seems.
Now, it’s your turn.
