Sometimes when you listen to a band you can hear exactly what’s going on beneath the surface… you can quite easily see how the music was made, and instinctively get your head around how the disparate parts fit together. And then sometimes you find a piece of music that’s just like a living, breathing, constantly shifting organism. You can’t really begin to fathom how it’s doing what it’s doing, because you can’t get anywhere near it. It’s just wriggling and squirming and slipping through your fingers. These are the rare finds; the results of some kind of alchemy that isn’t really born from technique or anything that can be formally taught, but rather something that develops over a number of years by some kind of osmosis. Find a band that have been making music together for a decade or more and you’ll probably find a band that communicate without the need for words.

Having formed in Brighton as schoolboys, London-based Midlight are one of those bands. Listening to Sink to the Level on headphones is like stepping into some kind of physical space. The mix is clean and perfectly balanced, with a real sense of life coursing through it. Built on a straight 4/4 kick, doubled with what sounds like a foot stomping away on a hard floor, low rumbling toms roll away throughout and an earthy Rhodes leaves sustained chords just hanging in the air. I really like the clean shakers that contrast with some of the reverb on different elements too, as well as the low end which pretty much engulfs you. It’s utterly overwhelming. The band have built their own studio space in Brixton and spent the last year developing new material without any time constraints, and this really shows in the detail of Sink to the Level.

The laid-back vocals perfectly compliment the loose, organic feel of the backing. Sitting right in the middle of the stereo mix, they’re understated in all the right ways and slowly but steadily build to an impressive falsetto peak around about two thirds in. Lyrically excellent, lines such as “You sink, I swim / This is how to control fear / Let the light in” effortlessly capture the vibe of the track and will linger in your mind for days.

I haven’t been able to stop thinking about the track since I first heard it. It seems a little clichéd to say this, but it’s true; there’s something indescribable about Sink to the Level that just hits you somewhere deep in your subconscious. Midlight seem to have tapped into something primal here, and it’s a rare and gorgeous thing to behold. I’m looking forward to hearing more from the same sessions. This is stupendous stuff.

Before I go, I almost forgot to mention Daisy Link’s incredible animated video for the track. It’s a lovely, lovely thing. Have a watch below.

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