I will never forget the first time I heard Midas Fall. There was a short lived Scottish TV drama portraying the lives of a group of lesbian women living in Glasgow, and at the end of episode five ‘Moviescreens’ was played over the credits. After a frantic search I found the track from the debut album and it is about the best thing my TV licence money ever gave me. 14 years on from that point the band is releasing album number five, Cold Waves Divide Us. After all this time and all those songs Midas Fall continues to produce stunning pock-rock which grabs and engages, enthrals and impassions. Cold Waves Divides Us staggers even when placed with the level of output this band has managed in a stunning back catalogue.
With four albums and two EPs forming the background, Midas Fall has managed to pull from the same pot of ingredients and conjured another diverse masterpiece of atmospheric shoegaze laden post-rock. The largest weapon in the arsenal is probably space. Songs often creep out with low levels of instrumentation, sparse drums, piano or guitar flickers but feature the monstrously ethereal vocals of Elizabeth Heaton. There is unrivalled amounts of passion, power, weakness and vulnerability in the delivery throughout. The perfect way to sum up this album is the fact there isn’t a single song which acts as a summary, its brilliance can be gleaned from individual moments but its whole is what really pushes this to be, possibly, one of the bands best.
Of the ten tracks here each has its own variety, its own route and path. The instruments are the same but harnessed in so many ways. ‘Atrophy’ has some of the most dizzying vocal displays I have heard in these genres and in the minimisation there is a resounding power. The instruments stay low as a bare and brave vocal performance steals the show they have been set up for. ‘In The Morning We’ll Be Someone Else’ and ‘I Am Wrong’ open the album on a powerful note with a combination of plucking instrumentation and shoegaze distortion giving the space a very dense feel to it. ‘In This Avalanche’ feels like being enveloped in a cloud, certainly nothing as heavy as an avalanche though and makes for a wonderful emotive track.
Across the album moments will hit at different times and in different ways, its a great album for an instant impact but gives even deeper impressions on repeated listens. Its minimalist approach gives off maximalist results and Cold Waves Divides Us is going to be a truly special release this year and amongst the band’s output thus far.
