Midlake On Tim Smith's Departure: 'There Were Some Growing Pains'

Time heals all wounds. It's been 18 or so months since co-founder of Texan outfit Midlake Tim Smith decided to part ways with the band. Having the primary songwriter leave a band often spells the end of a band, rebuilding from the ashes as a new project or imploding, their momentum irreparably halted. The band had almost completed recording their fourth album at that stage also – a posthumous release seemed likely, a haunting postscript of what was and what might have been. Instead the four remaining members – Eric Pulido, McKenzie Smith, Eric Nichelson and Paul Alexander – scrapped the material and forged ahead, bringing Joey McClellan (guitar) and Jesse Chandler (keys) into the fore and pushing Purdilo up to the mike. The result is Antiphon, an album that steps away from the pagan folk elements that infused earlier releases and takes on a more ephemeral trajectory, using the psychedelic touches of the past and adding new shades of colour. And while it may not be seen as the road to redemption for Pulido, he readily admits that it is a relief that Antiphon has kept Midlake moving confidently forward during such a tumultuous period. “There were a lot of things that needed to be defined at that time because although it was something we never desired, we had to figure out how we would move on,” Purdilo muses. “I won't lie; there were some growing pains in trying to rework everything, but there was an overt freedom that came along with it. As in life, when something like this happens it challenges you to drop any pretensions and step up and respond confidently in a way that is hopefully creative as well.”

Antiphon is the fruit of this reconfiguration, and it's a testament to the ability of the remaining members to roll back to the beginning of Midlake – some of the more rock-oriented structures are reminiscent of their 2004 debut Bamnan And Silvercork – while fully embracing the new members of the band and a different process of songwriting and composition. “We didn't have much time to overthink things so the fact there are similarities to other records is actually an inherent quality,” Pulido asserts. “The fact that there is a member missing now, and a very important one at that, doesn't mean that we will leave everything behind; when you are in a band and are friends for a long time you rub off on one another. So when you start something fresh it's still going to have some quality of what came before – you can't leave those personal elements behind entirely. We aren't trying to run from that but are embracing that; we aren't ashamed of our past. But now there are new inspirations and influences and a wider sense of freedom and scope to draw from.”

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