With new album Aniphon released earlier this week, Midlake have officially returned. They just embarked on their first tour for the album, fully moving right past the departure of former frontman/lead singer, Tim Smith.
On Wednesday night Midlake stopped by New York City’s tiny Mercury Lounge, along with Nicole Atkins, who opened the show.
I was familiar with Nicole Atkins’ name, but never got around to checking out her work, although the cover art for her debut album, Neptune City, struck a bell when I looked it up. From the very first song Atkins immediately had my attention. Right away I knew that Nicole was a special artist blessed with an incredible voice and a strong presence. When her set was supposed to end the venue found the time to allow her to play one more song before Midlake went on. I’m thankful they did. She finished with her incredible song “Neptune City” which I haven’t been able to stop playing since hearing it. It’s a masterpiece, a song that should have been one of the biggest of its time. Her performance of it was simply beautiful, immediately making me a lifelong fan of Nicole. I wish I had listened to her work sooner, but I’m just happy to have found her. She will release a new album titled Slow Phaser on February 4th. For more details, visit her PledgeMusic page.
Nicole’s performance set the bar so high that Midlake actually had quite the task to follow. I had never seen them before, never catching the earlier variation of the band with Tim Smith. This may have been a good thing, as I had nothing to compare this version of the band to. Eric Pulido has shifted to the lead role, taking over lead singing duties, and filling it just fine. If you were new to Midlake and stumbled into Mercury Lounge that evening, you wouldn’t have ever questioned that Pulido had always been their singer. That’s how comfortable and appropriate he was in his role. It makes sense, he’s always been a part of the band.
They ran through several songs off the new record, all of which sounded crisp, full of a lively atmosphere that comes natural to Midlake. To all of our delight, they played many old songs off of their fantastic record The Trials of Van Occupanther. Finally getting to hear “Roscoe” live felt like an achievement. I almost forgot how good the song was, but they were there to remind me. The band play tight and arouse a lively presence when they play, summoning all the attention in their room to enter their world. It’s easy to get lost it in, but hey, that’s the point.
Midlake are back in business, and put on a pretty incredible show. The combination of them and Nicole Atkins made it one of the most surprisingly pleasant shows of this year. I hope to catch both acts again soon.
Find photos set of both bands below.
Midlake:
Nicole Atkins:
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