New Audio: The Dreamy and Futuristic Sounds of Midday Veil’s “Babel”

Comprised of co-founders Emily Pothast and David Golightly, along with Timm Mason, Jayson Kochan, Garrett Moore and Sam Yoder, the Seattle,WA-based sextet Midday Veil have developed a reputation for crafting material that’s subtle and incredibly nuanced, based around ethereal vocals, shimmering, cosmic synths and a motorik groove and an experimental approach that purposely defies easy categorization, since their formation back in 2008.

The Seattle-based sextet’s debut effort, Eyes All Around was released to critical praise from a collection of tastemakers; however, it was the release of two completely improvised cassette tapes, Subterranean Ritual II (2011) and INTEGRATRON (2012) recorded in an acoustically perfect wooden dome built with “extraterrestrial guidance” on a magnetic vortex in the Mojave Desert that cemented their reputation in the underground, experimental, indie rock scene. Their sophomore full-length, The Current, released in 2013 reportedly followed the experimental approach to songwriting of their cassettes but with a focus on strong songwriting — and as a result, the album found its way to a number of that year’s Best of Lists, including a Top 15 avant-rock album list mention by The Wire.

“Babel,” the first single off the band’s forthcoming third full-length album, The Wilderness, slated for a September 11 begins with layers of soaring and cascading synth chords, a propulsive groove and Pothast’s ethereal vocals to craft a sound that sounds both dreamy and futuristic; however, it’s a view of what the future would be like from 30 or 40 years ago. It’s the sound of flying cars and an ultra efficient world — but dysfunction and rot slowly creep to the surface before you know it.