Was I given the wrong album? That was my immediate thought as the fingerstyle opening line of “Bad Neighbours” filled my headphones. There had to be some sort of bureaucratic error I was unaware of. While it is not far-fetched for alternative indie rock band Middle Kids to call on this sort of sound, it still came as a pleasant surprise. The band’s lead singer Hannah Joy strips things back for a personal, narrative, and acoustic track that, as a beginning for my journey through their sophomore album Today We’re The Greatest (via Domino Recordings), left me wondering at what was to come.
“Bad Neighbours” is eerily reminiscent of early Fleet Foxes or S. Carey even, but very quickly Joy’s singing set it apart as her voice soars on the chorus emerging out from the foggy guitar, “just when I’m breaking free/I can’t quite hold it all together,” it’s raw yet beautiful. There are a number of tracks that move with surprising languor as well as a touch of delicacy one might not have expected, considering the direction of their debut album.
“Lost in Lost Angeles” is a dimly-lit, distant track. Opening with an isolated banjo, the guitar enters and almost limps through the track’s melancholy lines. Even when the drums make their grand entrance, they parallel that uneven step while a harmonized Joy sings, “I got tired of trying to believe we were something/I figured it out/dreams hung up on make-believe/stringing us out into misery.” The theme of collapsing relationships is one that dominated the band’s debut album, Lost Friends, and is still present here as Hannah Joy and bassist Tim Fitz–now married–reflect on their pasts.
Although there are a couple of tracks that find comfort in a similar kind of tranquil slowness, like “Golden Star,” contrary to any indications from the opener. This album is not an acoustic singer-songwriter-style piece. The Aussie natives do not abandon their past successes with crystalline indie-rock, rather choosing to mix things up with lighter more personal sensibilities. The track which follows “Bad Neighbours,” “Cellophane” is a louder pronounced declaration that there will still be some stage-shakers. Despite its notably laid-back formatting, the track moves from a slower construction, ultimately culminating in a rich explosion of sound. It begins with vocals and guitar, yet again the acoustic asserting itself as the dominant instrument. By the end, the guitars are screaming, the rocking bass and the vivacious drums of Harry Day drive the track. It’s a two-faced song. In the loudest moments, it feels as though only the added guitar and drums are pulling it into high gear. On the tail end, the rest of the composition is still gentler.
Songs “Summer Hill,” “Questions,” and “Stacking Chairs” are extremely catchy. “Questions,” in particular, starts on soft synths, modulating into a fast-paced horns section blowing the roof off of the track. A great example of Middle Kids’ use of white space, a moment of reduction coming before the final sprint of the track. “Summer Hill” has a candy-sweet bassline and the synths accompanying Joy in the tracks’ early moments are similarly satisfying open sunroof kind of mood. It seems so well fitted for a summertime drive through the hills, with the chorus “and we can go out/we could go anywhere.”
There are a lot of great tracks sandwiched in the middle of the album, but the acoustic opener and the similarly gentle closing title track, “Today We’re the Greatest,” are my favorites. Joy sings with the clarity of alpine air, “someday we’ll be gone /but today we’re the greatest/even though we feel so small.” The slower tempo of this track puts a sort of melancholy on the lyrics, seeming to emphasize the “today” over all the rest, and today can never last forever. But she makes that line believable in itself; even if tomorrow we might not be, today we are the greatest, and that is a beautiful thing.
As a follow-up to their debut, Today We’re the Greatest maintains strong songwriting with tight clean sounds, which when applied correctly birth something with a more sonic and lyrically vibrant personality. Hannah Joy’s singing is a pleasure to behold and as she stretches up into the higher notes of the album with staggering clarity, one cannot help but remark her command of tone and atmosphere. There will no doubt be those who, from the four tracks released ahead of the album, are surprised by the sheer number of slow-moving tracks on this album. But frankly, Lost Friends gave the band plenty of festival hits. Today We’re the Greatest is a welcome change of pace that allows them to touch on a more delicate side of themselves. Middle Kids more than pull off this gentle transition; the result is an album full of love and lovely moments as well as honest sadness and some amount of profundity.
Middle Kids’ new album Today We’re The Greatest is available where all music is streamed including Spotify, Apple Music, or Tidal. To purchase visit Bandcamp or the Domino Recordings store.
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