Midlake

Blending folk rock with prog, psychedelia, and alt-rock, Midlake emerged as one of the most nuanced American indie bands of the 2000s. Formed in 1999 in Denton, TX, where the members were attending University of North Texas College of Music, the band started out dabbling in jazz. They were overtly Radiohead-influenced before settling into a ’70s beard-rock comfort zone with 2006’s attention-getting The Trials of Van Occupanther. Their sound became moodier and more elaborate on 2010’s The Courage of Others, which cracked the Top 20 in the UK and raised the band’s profile further. Subsequent to that release, singer/songwriter Tim Smith quit, but Midlake rallied for the more collectively created Antiphon. Nine years later, the long-awaited follow-up, For The Sake of Bethel Woods, showed that Midlake hadn’t lost a step, combining their 2000s approach with a more insistent, updated vibe.