Spoiler alert! The new Midlake record is not from the band that you grew to love with The Trials Of Van Occupanther. With each successive album, the members of Midlake transformed, foregrounding a different favorite section of their record collections. Now comes Antiphon (ATO), which announces itself with an opening title track that rocks harder and more insistently than anything in the group’s prior catalog. Midlake again sounds like a new band. And, this time it is: It’s Midlake’s first since the departure of principal singer/songwriter Tim Smith, its first with guitarist Eric Pulido stepping into those lead roles, its first with former touring members Jesse Chandler (keyboards, flute) and Joey McClellan (guitars) officially joining drummer Mackenzie Smith, multi-instrumentalist Paul Alexander and guitarist Eric Nichelson. Chandler and Nichelson will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our brand new Midlake feature.
Chandler: Os Mutantes, the first album by the Brazilian band of the same name, might be my favorite album of all time. Every time I listen to it, I’m astounded that this little band from São Paulo in 1968 could make something so unabashedly creative and inspired, in the midst of a harsh communist dictatorship. I love that they didn’t take themselves too seriously, and the production from Regerio Duprat (the Brazilian George Martin) is mind-blowing. Supposedly, they had to build their own guitar effects pedals, because they couldn’t get them shipped from the U.S. or Europe at that time. That drive to make music and record songs at any cost is a huge inspiration to me. I also just love Brazilian music in general, particularly the Tropicalia and MPB movements of the ’60s and ’70s.
