The Last Resort: Greetings From

Sound DNA

• Folk
• Traditional Folk

• twangy
• laid-back
• southern

About

Since debuting with 2017’s <i>On the Rocks</i>, Midland has carved out quite a niche for themselves in country music. One of only a few actual bands in the genre, the Texas-based trio earned fans for their fusion of contemporary pop country with Southern rock grit, pairing barroom-ready arrangements with hook-laden melodies and plenty of harmony. <i>The Last Resort: Greetings From</i> is their third album, and while, sonically, it does hew closely to its predecessors, they sound both looser and even more unified on this outing, like an already skilled band that’s really hit its stride. Highlights include the slow-dance waltz “Sunrise Tells the Story” and “Longneck Way to Go,” a playful collaboration with like-minded country star Jon Pardi. Below, the band shares insight into several key tracks on <i>The Last Resort: Greetings From</i>. <b>“The Last Resort”</b> Cameron Duddy: “There is an ‘oohs’ layer, like a ‘ooh/ahh’ layer à la Beach Boys, that we added in a not-so-standard way. We haven’t typically done that in our recordings, but there’s the regular three-part harmony on the words. And then there’s another additional layer. And I think it’s really straight inspired by The Beach Boys. That song has definitely got that. I don’t know, it’s probably more Jimmy Buffett ‘gulf and western,’ but because we all grew up on the West Coast and I’m a California native, there’s always Beach Boys references. And when you think of the beach, for me, it’s the West Coast, it’s the Pacific.” <b>“If I Lived Here”</b> Mark Wystrach: “We always like to have a song that gets people up out of their seats. We do write a lot with our live shows in mind because we tour so much and we spend so much time on the road, and I think that’s Midland. We get to operate in that world of irreverent country fun sometimes. Not everything has to be serious. So, that one’s a concept song. It was a hook, that idea that Jess brought to the table, and I think everybody just jumped right in. It was just one of those songs that was really easy and really fun to write, fantasizing about what it would be like to live in almost everybody’s favorite place.” <b>“Two to Two Step”</b> Duddy: “It’s not down the middle, that’s for sure. It feels like a familiar song. And when we were writing it, probably not until we got into the studio did we realize that it’s not your normal I-IV-V-style honky-tonk song. And of course, there’s a synthesizer pulsing under it that really, I feel like, is in a ZZ Top vein.” Wystrach: “You’re calling on everybody. It’s not just a honky-tonk thing. It’s like, you’re commanding people to get the fuck up and dance. You know what I mean? Forget your worries and get out there and do it.” <b>“Take Her Off Your Hands”</b> Wystrach: “This was Midland chasing the George Strait thing—the Dean Dillon, George Strait stuff that we loved in the mid- to late ’80s, early ’90s. And I mean, that’s what you’re hearing. We’re going back to that setting. ‘Take Her Off Your Hands’ is actually a romance song. It’s almost like a parable about, ‘Make sure that you appreciate what’s in front of you. Make sure you appreciate the one that you’re with, otherwise you might have some dudes like Midland watching in the shadows, getting ready to come and swoop on your girl.’” <b>“Sunrise Tells the Story”</b> Jess Carson: “It’s a waltz. Not to get too into music theory, but a waltz is a really fun rabbit hole to go down because it affords you different options with the phrasing. You can really swing that phrasing, and in a way that it hopefully makes people want to dance. And it’s not a fast song, but it moves and it’s a fun song to play live. And it’s a story that, I think, all three of us have experienced, where you meet somebody and there’s that immediate spark. And sometimes you meet at a bar with drinks involved, and where is it going to go the next day? It’s a mystery and it’s the future that you get to write.”

via Apple Music

Tracklist

Credits