More about: black midi

This is it. After months of masterful mystery and old-school approaches to building an underground buzz, black midi have finally released details of their debut LP release Schlagenheim. 

Due for release on 21 June via Rough Trade Records, Schlagenheim was recorded at Dan Carey’s suburban Streatham studio Speedy Wunderground. Time is of the essence at Speedy Wunderground: Carey’s main focus is getting records hot off the press and into stores, rather than letting them collect dust while faffing around between recording and release. It’s a brilliantly direct, unembellished way of making music, which the band praise. They laid down eight of the record’s nine tracks in just five days: the recording process was of refining the foundations they’d already laid down, through long jam sessions from which a riff would emerge. 

Here’s what Gigwise have said in the past about black midi: “Ultimately, Black Midi are like lightning in a bottle. A rarity. A multifaceted band fully deserving of the furore surrounding them; from their impeccable musicianship to the originality of their mystique.”

Today, the band have also released details of an intimate gig in North East London - to be in with a chance of experiencing black midi live, enter your email here and the lucky winners will receive a private link to purchase a ticket for the show tonight. In true bm style, however - they’re not releasing all the information today, to keep up their mysterious persona. The song titles of the album will only be revealed on release day. 

From the animated ‘press shots’ that black midi have released by Anthrox Studio, it’s clear to see they do things their own way. With visual connotations of sci-fi/fantasy artwork and gaming animation, there’s a sense of the surreal around the enigmatic black midi. They’re curating a whole new world for themselves, a parallel universe within which they can experiment without inhibition. They’re less bothered by making space for themselves in our world, so they’ve created a whole new one for themselves.

In our review of their latest release ‘Talking Heads’, we wrote: “Math rock twists are broken up by stop-start robotic vocals that crash into brief dance hooks. The schizophrenic guitars married with the pelt of Morgan Simpson’s drumming is a utopian trade-off that many bands struggle to capture, especially in a track that just eclipses the three-minute mark. It’s accessible experimentation done to a high degree, by a band that show no signs of slowing down on their forward-thinking trajectory. Each member works in tandem to an impeccable level, with black midi calculating when to hold back and when to pounce on their crowds with sonic punches of potent ferocity."

In a constant state of flux just like their sound, the band pledge that in a few years, you won’t be able to recognise their music; they’re setting themselves the challenge of reinvention. 

Buckle in for the ride…

Schlagenheim Tracklist (song titles will be revealed on release day):
Track 1
Track 2
Track 3
Track 4
Track 5
Track 6
Track 7
Track 8
Track 9

More about: black midi