Photo credit: Wanda Martin
Budapest-based band Middlemist Red released their long-anticipated new album, ‘The Other Side of Nowhere’, out December 15th via Randy Hardcore Event Management.
The Other Side of Nowhere is a true sonic experiment, that aspires to recall the Western genre’s essence, following its aesthetic while rethinking it with altered tools, instrumentation and arrangements. The album is a reinterpretation of the cinematic style, merging psychedelia, electronic sounds, Hungarian folk, and tribal music. The album maintains the legacy of the Wild West, with following the footprints of its hero’s journey through solidarity under the scorching sun.
Middlemist Red has started their career drawing heavy influences from the psych-rock, synth-wave genres. During their career, they have taken in more genres but have always maintained the energy and attitude of rock music paired with Soma Nóvé’s unmistakable soulful voice. Their energetic live shows around Europe have established Middlemist Red as an internationally known band in the underground music scene.
Recorded, mixed and mastered by Máté Gál in Zengőkert and RH Studio, and created over two years, The Other Side of Nowhere is sonically constructed to capture the feeling of the Wild West. Across all nine relevant tracks, the band explores new musical dimensions to capture the above mentioned cinematic genre as instinctually and honestly as possible, while personal experiences and thoughts fuel the songs lyrically.
A ‘rendition of the rendition’, The Other Side of Nowhere is a concept album written as a piece of an experimental fictional story revolving around the Wild West. The listener is taken on a voyage back to the Spaghetti Western era of Italian cinema. Singer-guitarist Soma Nóvé says that “the aim wasn’t to recollect or nostalgize around an original idea but to use this cinematic style as the leading theme of the idea itself. The monumentalism of the Hollywood Western movies are imprinted and paraphrased in the Italian westerns of the sixties, and that is again paraphrased by us, recorded on the album, and will also be paraphrased again and again every time we play these songs live for example.”
During writing this album, the singer-songwriter had a strong inspiration from all of the music projects he is currently involved in, having the new album take in more pop, tribal, electronic and Hungarian folk sounds. For this album, he barricaded himself in the rehearsal room while the pandemic slowly took over the lives of everyone. He started to write and experiment with all these alternative sounds and tried not to write or play in a conventional way. Finally recorded all demos with Ableton and looked forward to redoing the recordings live with the others.
The artwork was created by Soma Nóvé himself: “It reflects not only the Western atmosphere but the handprint has a strong tribal motive that echoed my personal life too. These handprints are the first and foremost forms of recording memories. The lyrics are a recollection of my personal life and the handprint symbolizes one of my memories that is so strong that it is outlined on my face. You stand and see the reflection of the original but when thinking back of the original you can only recollect the reflection itself.’
THE OTHER SIDE OF NOWHERE TRACKLIST:
• Seminary Fall
• Grip Of The Sun
• Don’t Let The Sunlight Catch You Cryin’
• Blue Moon
• It’s Only You
• Get Back
• Bloodshot Eyes
• Starry Nights (Csillagok, csillagok)
• Heal By The Moon
