March 11, 2010

Midlake's sound has always been retro, but The Courage of Others takes the term to a whole new extreme. During their early career, Midlake's retro slant could be traced to striking Radiohead similarities or undeniably fuzzy 70's-rock sounds. In this album's case, "retro" means "centuries ago." Gravely spoken tales of kings, brave men, ancient woods and outward emotion are joined with wandering flutes, solemn acoustic guitars and hushed rhythms to create elegant, aged melodies. This alchemy allows Midlake to evoke the exact atmosphere they hoped to obtain, but it isn't always as engaging as one would hope.