Written by: Lyhan Maldonado
It is impossible for me to write this album review without mentioning my love for black midi. I remember finding their song “Western” in 2020, in the peak of quarantine. Although I did find it impressive, I was very much distracted by my parents, the TV, and the almonds I was eating to pay any attention to the controlled chaos of the song.
Fast forward a year, I decided to fully venture into the world of music and explore new sounds in spite of the words a stranger said to me in an online forum. His words were: “You listen to the same things.” I never knew the guy, I can’t even remember his name or on which online forum this discussion happened, but I hope he knows how much he has changed my life.
It is 2021, and as I wait for my turn at the dentist office in the Dominican Republic, I give that strange band called black midi a chance with my newfound appreciation for music. I still have the photographic memory of when “953” first played through my cheap wired headphones. While cavities were being filled next door, I experienced Schlagenheim for the first time, an album that changed me as a listener (and probably as a person).
Later that same year, black midi’s sophomore album Cavalcade was released. Music had never been so seeped into my life until that point. I listened to “Slow” 5 times in a row while sitting in the most uncomfortable of couches. During late nights, I wept a handful of times to “Ascending Forth.” For my 15th birthday, my mother surprised me with a record table, and the first thing I ever played was the album opener “John L.” My first electric guitar, a gift from a family friend’s dusty garage, had a red-ish sticker of the album’s title stamped on it. I begged my parents to drive me to their show in Rhode Island, and to this day I won’t forgive them for having refused.
When their 3rd album, Hellfire, was announced in 2022, I was ecstatic. My tedious walks to school now found a new joy as I tried to catch a glimpse of the sounds leaving my phone’s speakers. I didn’t have any headphones, the rumbling of cars filled the streets with noise, and I had a final exam waiting for me in school. Yet none of that stopped me from sitting on the sidewalk to watch the “Eat Men Eat” music video.
It has been almost 4 years since black midi disbanded, but they’re still my favorite band. In my room, you’ll find records, CDs, stickers, and merchandise of the band and its members, including Cameron Picton, black midi’s bassist and co-songwriter.
This year, after many singles and untitled mixtapes, Cameron Picton released the self-titled album of his new project, My New Band Believe. Made with a rotating set of musicians, the 36-minute album is both a quiet and loud demonstration of total intimacy. The emotions of the album vary, ranging from the hatred of “Target Practice,” to the desire for requited love in “Love Story,” and the deceit of “One Night.” If you enjoyed Picton’s work in black midi on songs like “Still,” this album should quench your thirst for a grand acoustic sound with excellent lyricism.
Yes, I understand I am 100% biased, and although the year hasn’t even reached its halfway point and there have been many great releases, I think I already know what the album of the year is: Cameron Picton’s My New Band Believe.
Featured Image Caption: My album of the year.
