Midland

Midland are an American country music trio. Having released an EP last summer en route, Midland’s Cameron Duddy, Mark Wystrach and Jess Carson are on the verge of arriving at their ultimate destination with The Last Resort: Greetings From via Big Machine Records. The trio spent the pandemic exploring their creative depths, from progressive Country that grew out of “Urban Cowboy” through Dwight Yoakam’s post-traditionalism and arrive with their third studio album. As Midland’s “Sunrise Tells The Story” rises at Country radio, the two-time Grammy® nominees dial in their Laurel Canyon-cum-Bakersfield sound for a tension that also promises release. Falling harder than the singer imagined throughout the spicy hook-up song, melting harmonies lean into a more erotically charged proposition.

Before Midland became a household name in country music, the Texas-based trio were just three friends writing music and playing small gigs for fun. The documentary Midland: The Sonic Ranch chronicles those early years, using footage from one of the band’s first recording sessions at the famed Texas studio. This accompanying soundtrack pulls together 12 songs from across the band’s career, including an alternate version of the Let It Roll track “Fourteen Gears” and unreleased fan favorites like “Texas Is the Last Stop” and “Champagne for the Pain.” Other gems include two versions of the band’s original tune “Cowgirl Blues,” the latter of which features guitarist Jess Carson on lead vocal. While The Sonic Ranch may lack the cohesion and road-tested chops of Midland’s two proper studio releases, it’s a fun and fascinating portrait of a young band just on the cusp of striking gold.

After your debut album gets nominated for two Grammys, it’s easy to overthink the approach to and implications of your follow-up. Unless you’re throwback/laidback Texas country trio Midland. “It's got to be better than the first,” guitarist Jess Carson tells Apple Music's Brooke Reese. “Otherwise, why are we doing it? What we've been doing for the last two years is playing live. So we tried to translate that into a recording studio. We attempt to write songs that are going to be around for a long time and could fit into a time period from the past as well as they could in the future—just kind of ageless. And I think we accomplished that.” Don't just take his word for it: The 14 freewheeling songs on Let It Roll channel '70s country and SoCal soft rock like the Eagles, but never feel dated or contrived.

More mature, After Here Through Midland lacks the sparkle of Cock Robin's debut. The one time they engaged an American producer in Don Gehman (John Cougar Mellencamp, Hootie and the Blowfish), After Here has a more U.S. rock-country blend to it. In the end, it achieved little in the States, again doing the business in Europe – "Just Around the Corner," "The Biggest Fool of All," and "El Norte" notched up the U.K. singles chart. "I'll Send Them Your Way" could have landed them the U.S. hit they so deserved. "Another Story" is picturesque – almost like an Edward Hopper painting of small-town America: small wooden house with porch, a deserted street, heavy grey sky, and one illuminated streetlight. "Nobody's home, so I'll go looking out for trouble," sings Anna LaCazio. Not their best but still better than most.