6 Music - Music News

Midlake have released their third album The Courage Of Others this week and the band have told us they've been channelling some of the British folk greats.

This is the follow up to the Texan outfits 2006 album The Trials of Van Occupanther, which was aurally compared to seventies legends like Fleetwood Mac, Crosby, Stills and Nash and America.

"We started getting influenced by the British folk scene of the late sixties and seventies after Van Occupanther," explained Eric Nichelson and McKenzie Smith from the band, "not that the album sounds exactly like that, but it's a style of music and emotion that really was influential to us when we were making this record."

Some classic British progessive folk records have been doing the rounds on their sound system: "Fairport Convention, Incredible String Band, Amazing Blondel, Pentangle, Steel Eye Span... all the side groups and solo projects of some of those beautiful singers and guitarists, Bert Jansch..."

"Fairport Convention, Incredible String Band, Amazing Blondel, Pentangle, Steel Eye Span... "

Eric and McKenzie from Midlake

Although Midlake have been making music for nearly a decade, they admit there are still some nerves when a new album is released: "You work so hard on something for so long and then once it's done it's done and it will be there forever.

Especially now in the digital age it's like you're locking your place no matter what you put out there, it's always gonna be in circulation."

However, it's a relief to get out on the road: "It's been enjoyable for us especially being cooped up in the studio for so long, now being able to translate these songs live."

The band are on tour now, playing around Europe, they kick off their UK tour in Glasgow on the 15th of February: "It's quite a release and it's fun for us, I feel in a lot of ways it's stronger, it hits harder.

It's great playing these new songs and even old ones have a different feel."

And, they have a lot of love for UK fans: "We love them, we've always had a really good time playing in the UK and I think the first time we actually had fans come to a show who knew who we were was in London."

Midlake have also announced a one-off show set for London's Roundhouse on November 2nd.