Midas Fall -‘Eleven, Return and Revert.’ (Monotreme Records)

OK, so I’m hardly unbiased on this front, what with the blog, the label and the being based here ‘n’ all, but there is so much great music coming out of this wee country right now. When it comes to music, Scotland more than punches above its’ weight, and seems to be growing in confidence. Singing in own accents – acceptable (why did people sneer at the Proclaimers for it). Not moving to London to advance career – why did we have to wait for Franz Ferdinand to lead the way on this? Edinburgh – just as much to offer as Glasgow, cheers to broken Records for kicking people’s arses into gear. And being able to sound how you want – ah, that’s what I call independence!

And Midas Fall, based in Edinburgh and Glasgow are at the forefront of band shsowing how it can be done. Drawing on a range of influcences, they have songs to die for, and are forging an identity that is uniquely and distinctly theirs. They supported Mono is Glasgow recently, which is one aspect of their sound, but interviewing guitarist Rowan and singer Liz recently for this blog (which will appear here very soon, I promise), they also cited artists as diverse as Oceansize, Radiohead and Tool as having influenced their sound.

The opening track on the album ‘Movie Screens’ sets the tone here. Haunting and beautiful, in my first feature on them on here I wrote ‘Normally words like melodic and haunting in press releases are bywords for bland, but in this case, these adjectives are compliments.’ Liz’s vocals nod in the direction of almost namesake Liz Fraser and Bat For Lashes. I drove all the way to Glasgow to see the second half of their set one night, and it was certainly worth it!

I challenge you to listen to this album, and not fall for its’ charms. Your choice, my neck on the line – but ultimately, your loss if you don’t fall for Midas Fall. Oh, and in case you were wondering, there’s really nothing in the name at all, just they felt they couldn’t continue labouring under the moniker of merkin (beware if you google it). But there’s shure as heck something in these waters…

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Eleven, Return and Revert is out on Monday on Monotreme Records.

Midas Fall -‘Movie Screens.’ mp3

Midas Fall’s myspace