Australian music has had a revered history of iconic bands creating sounds that represent the true heart of the country whilst becoming national treasures. The 80s produced bands like The Go-Betweens, The Triffids, Hunters & Collectors, and Midnight Oil. The 90s gave us Crowded House, Dirty Three, and Powderfinger. The 00s delivered The Drones, The Panics, and Augie March. And as we move into a new decade, it appears this generation has found its band for the ages in The Middle East.
In 2008, The Middle East disbanded after the release of their eponymous album ‘Recordings of The Middle East'. Later that year the band was discovered by national radio broadcaster triple j through their ‘Unearthed’ program. They then re-released ‘Recordings…’ as an extended player in 2009, and have not looked back since. Singles ‘Blood’ and ‘The Darkest Side’ gave the Townsville folk collective great success, showing their penchant for writing warm, hearty tracks that exposed a number of themes to the listening public. Yet it was their combination of folk and ambient-rock on other numbers which created much interest in the group, especially through, and including, the songs that were cut from the re-released EP. ‘Lonely’ and ‘Beleriand’ showed an ambitious side to the band’s repertoire, and gave its genuine acoustics a far more grandiose feel. Nearly two years on and the public has finally received a new collection of songs from the six-piece in ‘I Want That You Are Always Happy’, an album that truly rewards the patience of fans and critics alike.
From the track-listing to the lyricism, this album is a truly Australian conglomerate of tracks. Each has its own story, yet the 13 songs manage to mildly bind together to create a long-player that does not necessarily flow through as one whole effort, but merely merges one track with the next, much like chapters of a book for instance. It is interesting also that the majority of the slower numbers here are placed throughout the first half of ‘I Want That You Are Always Happy’, allowing the album to slowly take shape; it is a fascinating aspect of building the album, as it makes it harder for the listener to become disenchanted when the songs gain momentum rather than trail off. At first glance this would seem an unwelcome tactic, yet The Middle East is all but captivating in their slower stages.
‘Black Death 1349’ and ‘My Grandma Was Pearl Hall’ are two exquisite pieces of music, and go a long way to setting the tone for things to come on ‘I Want That You Are Always Happy’. A dark, grandiose piano tone combines with an eerie ambience on the latter, which offers a startling reminder of the band’s harrowing and gruesome nature at times. Other songs, like ‘As I Go To See Janey’ and ‘Ninth Avenue Reverie’ follow this predicament, though the latter here is probably the band’s weakest moment on the album, if indeed there is one. Upbeat numbers ‘Land Of The Bloody Unknown’ and lead single ‘Jesus Came To My Birthday Party’ present variants between the more evocative songs, as do ‘Dan’s Silverleaf’ and ‘Hunger Song’ towards the closing stages of the 63-minute opus. Musically, the highlight comes with ‘Very Many’, a modest slow burner that subtly explodes in a raging ball of euphoria with an unexpected turn of cheek, incorporating a bare-boned acoustic and incredulous violin, with the hushed vocals of Rohin Jones remaining low in the mix so as to maintain its inter-personality.
It is hard to overlook the evocative nature of the band’s songwriting, which almost becomes ubiquitously Australian when examined closely. Chief songwriters Jones and Jordan Ireland have evidently been influenced by their travels and surroundings, and have developed an overall soundscape in accord with the images it aims to re-create. Take ‘Land Of The Bloody Unknown’, a collection of uniquely colonial tales that ultimately leaves Jones to proclaim that “the stars bear down from their throne/and that old Southern Cross is shown/and it points down the side road home/to the land of the bloody unknown.” This filters through to ‘Mount Morgan’, another instrumentally unique track where more howling, deep vocals are mixed with crashing cymbals to produce a sinister sounding ambience, differing completely from the rest of the album. Even the subtle hint of saxophone trickling through the mix in the latter half of the song depicts this rich sounding atmosphere, which is given an epic outro at the end of album-closer ‘Deep Water’, a 10-minute composition in itself.
This evocative sound can also be attributed to the production and mixing (credited to Mark Myers and the band itself) that encourages the best elements of The Middle East’s sound to shine with prominence and craft a joyous resonance on the best part of ‘I Want That You Are Always Happy’, one that would be ideally suited to a jam session on an abandoned property without a care in the world, which is how I imagine the band, hailing from far-north Queensland, would have carved out these individual creations. It is these elements that may in fact make The Middle East musical iconoclasts of this generation and for years to come.
Though many may disagree, The Middle East is the most important band in Australian music right now. Their ability to tell stories in a way that evokes their forefathers not only allows a whole new generation of listeners to be opened up to traditional folk music, but also creates a new chapter in Australian music as we know it. The names Rohin Jones and Jordan Ireland are certainly no Glenn Richards, Gareth Liddiard or Grant McLennan, though given time, they may have formed a most formidable artistic partnership that will be remembered through the ages.
- The Middle East play The Governor Hindmarsh on June 10. Tickets available at Venuetix, Moshtix, or The Gov itself.
