In 2024, British art and avant-prog rockers Black Midi shocked the music community with a sudden announcement that the band was “indefinitely over.” The commercial and artistic high the band found themselves in at the time was seen through the critical acclaim of their 2022 album “Hellfire” and the performance of their most popular song, “bmbmbm,” at the 2019 Hyundai Mercury Prize ceremony. Despite their steady rise to prominence and the band’s relatively young age, the three members split up in a breakup that left the band on non-speaking terms. Not long after this announcement, lead vocalist Geordie Greep released a critically acclaimed solo album that set a high bar for the band members’ solo ventures that were sure to follow.
Towards the end of Black Midi’s run, bassist Cameron Picton said he began to feel dissatisfied with the songs he was creating and that writing for the group was becoming “quite frustrating.” After the band’s dissolution, he made the decision to essentially start over. Beginning to write and play solo under the name “My New Band Believe”, Picton found a much more satisfying artistic process. Later collaboration with British post-rock band Caroline, as well as a variety of other musicians, eventually produced several new singles and an exciting debut album released on April 10 of this year.
“My New Band Believe” is the self-titled debut from Picton’s newly formed English art rock and chamber folk band, a project that only concretely includes him in its creative process despite the myriad of collaborators on this first album. The project is a 36-minute-long blend of chamber and progressive folk with elements of singer-songwriter music whose complexities span over 8 tracks.
The album begins with “Target Practice,” a sing-songy revenge fantasy with some shocking imagery of pain and punishment. This brief but impactful song acts as an interesting intro that pushes the listener headfirst into the experience of this album. This track is immediately followed by “In the Blink of an Eye,” a song that presents itself as a paranoid individual’s reassuring last message before their escape from a world they believe is watching their every move. It acts as a first taste of the lush instrumentation that makes up most of the album and transitions the listener into one of the most interesting moments on the album, “Heart of Darkness.” This track’s first section feels like a continuation of the story told in the previous song, spelling out the esoteric warnings of an escaped individual. The instrumentation and vocal delivery in the first part of the song create a mysterious atmosphere that is expanded upon in the last three minutes. The scattered, eerie instrumental that ends the song is the strangest yet most intriguing part of the entire album for me. Creating a uniquely haunting environment, it leaves the listener wondering where the album could possibly go next.
Picton answers this question with “Love Story,” a superficially heartfelt ballad about making dinner for the love of your life that is a drastic turn from the previous song, both instrumentally and lyrically. The eeriness created by other moments on the album is touched upon, however, by the strange imagery and implication of loss that mark the end of the song. While the track marks a high point on the album, it also sets us up for a somewhat mixed back half. “Pearls,” the next track, is one of the most instrumentally and lyrically experimental moments. Its fragmented structure and brief nature make it one of the more forgettable moments on the album. The quality essentially stays the same with its follow-up, “Opposite Teacher.” While it has some interesting moments, the song is fairly bland and offers the least lyrically. However, the penultimate song, “Actress,” gets the ball rolling again with the strongest moment of the whole album. This track is an in-depth character portrait bursting with interesting imagery that offers the best instrumentation, lyricism, and performances of the whole album. The song is a perfect encapsulation of the detailed arrangements, lush instrumentation, thought-provoking lyrics, and engrossing sound design that make this album and My New Band Believe as a whole such exciting projects. The album closes out with “One Night,” a brief outro with some good lyricism and a vocal delivery unlike anything else on the album. The instrumental complements the vocals well and provides a solid end to the album.
While this album certainly has some unfocused moments lacking in any significant development, the majority of “My New Band Believe” contains detailed, boundary-pushing folk songs with interesting lyricism. Despite its brevity, there are many layers to peel back and enjoy on this album; I can only see it growing even more on me as the year goes on. For now, it exists as one of the most exciting debuts of the year and is definitely one to check out.
Rating: 8/10
Superlatives:
Best Song: “Actress”
Favorite Songs: “Target Practice”, “In the Blink of an Eye”, “Heart of Darkness”, “Love Story”
Least Favorite Songs: “Pearls”, “Opposite Teacher”
Written by: Nathan Knoll