Rock

Midlake
A Bridge To Far
Bella Union BELLA1688CD; LP: BELLA1688V

‘American Sublime’ usually refers to 19th century landscape painting, but is also an apt descriptor for Midlake’s music. The Texan sextet play a psychedelic folk hybrid with nods towards the modern Americana of Califone and Fleet Foxes, and back to the sun-dappled harmonies of Crosby, Stills & Nash. Over a limber rhythm section, guitars are layered with rippling keyboards and the occasional sax and flute. On ‘Make Haste’ Eric Pulido’s vocals are joined by featherlight female harmonies, and with its harp-like guitar arpeggios, ‘Guardians’ is even more gorgeous. ‘The Ghouls’ is a muscular rocker and the stripped-back ‘The Valley Of Roseless Thorns’ closes: an enigmatic song imbued with a feeling of yearning. MB

Sound Quality: 90%

The Orb
Buddhist Hipsters
Cooking Vinyl CDCOOK946; LP: LPCOOK946

‘The paintings on the walls were dripping: like they were melting’, announces a sampled voice on ‘Spontaneously Combust’. It leads us to a mosaic of guitars and sequencers from space rockers Steve Hillage and Miquette Giraudy, and a kaleidoscopic swirl of vocal fragments and sonic textures. This is The Orb at their grooviest, evoking their U.F.Orb album on a mind-expanding journey through techno-style locomotion; mutated hip-hop with strings (‘Arabebonics’); and a brisk skank with myriad dub effects (‘A Sacred Choice’). The expansive ‘Kharon’ concludes the set, its gentle electronic pulses decorated by the pointillist plinks of piano. MB

Sound Quality: 85%

Lemonheads
Love Chant
Fire FIRECD804; LP: FIRELP804

Love Chant is Lemonheads’ first album of all-new material in 19 years, a hiatus largely down to frontman Evan Dando’s personal problems. But now he’s back, married and living in Brazil, and the new three-piece group have produced a fresh, strong set, like a gnarlier version of their ’90s heyday. The punchy, punky rhythm section combines with Dando’s driving guitar, but his vocals are warm and full of folky, pop-infused melodies. Long-time collaborator Juliana Hatfield returns on backing vocals and there’s a bonus of occasional blow-out guitar solos by Dinosaur Jr.’s J Mascis, while guitarist Nick Saloman of The Bevis Frond guests on ‘Roky’. MB

Sound Quality: 85%

Lovers
Lettres D’Amour
Thanatosis Produktion THT46CD; LP: THT46LP

This album begins with the synthesised signals and pulses and spangly guitar of ‘Blue Velvet’ – not the Bobby Vinton song, but a slow ballad that could well have been sung by Dorothy Vallens in David Lynch’s film Blue Velvet. ‘Mundane Things’ is dreamier, with double-tracked voice and echoed guitar in a Cocteau Twins vein. But the ethereal mood is soon displaced. The Paris-based duo of singer Linda Oláh – also on electronics – and guitarist Giani Caserotto explore deeper strata. They share an experimental and multimedia background and utilise instrumental and vocal processing to yield a compelling combination of melody, song craft and abstract sound. MB

Sound Quality: 80%