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Burning Like The Midnight Sun

The Choir

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iTunes Review

Burning Like the Midnight Sun continues in the atmospheric post-punk vein that the Choir has made its own for 25 years. Derri Daugherty remains a uniquely evocative singer, bringing a spacey sort of tenderness to Steve Hindalong’s spiritually informed lyrics. In these tracks, the band deals with themes of loss and acceptance, offering salutes to departed comrades (“A Friend So Kind”) and solace to young romantics (“That Melancholy Ghost”). The band draws upon its road experiences for the ominous “Mr. Chandler” and the wistful “I’m Sorry I Laughed.” More explicitly spiritual is “The Word Inside the Word” (an upbeat message of compassion) and “It Should Have Been Obvious” (an unsparing look at religious blindness). The band’s blend of harsh and gentle textures comes together in “Say Goodbye To Neverland,” an eerie ode to lost innocence. As always, the Choir’s subtle layering of effects-laden guitars, pulsating percussion and moody saxophones achieves a gorgeous shimmer.

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Burning Like The Midnight Sun is arguably The Choir best album

There will be many that can't let go the times they were going through when they discovered Circle Slide and Chase The Kangaroo. For good and legit reasons to be sure. They will be the most difficult to have the patience to judge this as its own work and worthy of its new role of being the best of the dozen they've offered. But the guys were brilliant and really referenced back to the classic choir sounds, melodies and lyrics that allowed them to endure and keep creating while others called it a day. The blend of guitars and the random sax/lyricon combo is remarkable. Derri's voice never sounded more romantic and is full of dynamic range. That the words "chemical fire" was fit into the lyric of the opening track so brilliantly that it sets the tone on how Steve's lyrics are at a whole new level on this album. Tim Chandler on bass - that's enough, right? You must understand that you will be hearing something different and remarkable with Tim playing. Ok, Marc Byrd - the artist of soundscapes and tone with his ambient guitar work fleshes out the beauty on Burning Like The Midnight Sun. After listening to this album, you realize they reached back into the past to pull the best of the cool that was Chase The Kangaroo, Speckled BIrd and Circle Slide - even some D&R and WEW...but didn't rehash anything. This sounds like the Choir in 2010. Thumbs way up.

Unmistakably Choir

I love it when well-seasoned bands maintain the core of their sound, even through genre shifts and the passing of time. These guys have gone on to work on several different projects, as musicians and as producers - and they come back together evolved from their experiences. This was very apparent on O How The Mighty Have Fallen. There were new soundscapes with the addition of Marc Byrd, and the weight of their life experiences became the new sound, but you still knew it was The Choir.

Burning Like The Midnight Sun is the next evolution in this journey, and you hear a new direction in the soundscape. The thing I like about this album is that there is an intentional message of Love, friendship, and appreciation, not only in the words, but in the music. I definitely dig Dan Michaels' saxophone work on this album, and I'm usually not a fan of saxophone. Marc Byrd's guitar contributions are stellar and spacious. Chandler's bass lines follow a tradition of alterna-awesomeness with pulsing drive reminiscent of Adam Clayton. Hindalong's production style always lends to a punchy, clear sound. Hindalong's drum performance is also incredible, although at times I wish he'd play in the groove/pocket just a little more. Derri's brilliant vocals and guitar work have an intentional and unashamed style that is his, along with a persistent Post Punk/New Wave influence. A big "Yes" to that.

This album is spot on, buy it now. NOW, people!;)

The Choir soars with two Byrds

The Choir's 12th release, Burning Like The Midnight Sun, finds them continuing to mine similar sonic textures as The Church and Cocteau Twins. The band has always had a knack for creating soaring, ethereal music, but on this release they take things even further. Part of this may be due to guitarist Marc Byrd (from instrumental/atmospheric duo Hammock) being a full-fledged member. The interplay between Byrd and Derri Daugherty (lead vocals, guitars) is oftentimes magical and practically lyrical. With a sturdy foundation from Steve Hindalong (drums, percussion, lyricist) and Tim Chandler (bass), the guitars are free to float around the structure of the songs. Add Dan Michaels (saxophone, lyricon) to the mix and you've got something beautiful.

The title track is also the opener and it sets up the rest of the album nicely. Near the last half of the song, guest Christine Glass Byrd (Marc's wife) makes her first appearance. Her haunting vocals bring to mind Cocteau Twins' Elizabeth Fraser. Glass Byrd's voice makes a number appearances throughout the album and is always a gorgeous thing to hear. "That Melancholy Ghost" starts with the guitar panning around the anchor of the rhythm section fitting the lyrical subject matter nicely. The panning is like the unsettling feelings of a young broken heart, but there is a core in the drums and bass that lend a semblance of stability in the pain. Michaels' haunting saxophone dances around the corners of the track like the title suggests. There are numerous lovely moments on Burning Like The Midnight Sun. Sometimes it's easy to take it all for granted and get lulled into a trance, then something even more beautiful shakes you. An example of this would be the very brief appearance on "Mr. Chandler" when Christine Glass Byrd sings the line 'I cannot let you fly'. It's a part so small but the song wouldn't be exactly right without it.

Lyrically much of Burning Like The Midnight Sun is about relationships, friendships, trials, triumphs, loss and rebirth. Hindalong has always had an artistic way of making a simple sentiment sound poignant. In "A Friend So Kind", about the death of a longtime friend, he writes "So now you've gone away/In a sudden gust of wind/And we're sadder than hell/'Cause we miss you, dear friend". Daugherty delivers the words as if they are his own. It's easy to forget he didn't actually write them, but on record, he owns them. The album closes with the lovely, sparse "Say Goodbye to Neverland" with it's theme of the loss of innocence, growing up, and moving on with your life.

Hindalong has noted that for this release the musical personalities of all five individuals integrated just right. Adding Marc Byrd as a full member makes this very apparent. It also might be time to make Christine Glass Byrd member number six. The contributions the Byrd's make to The Choirs' sound is immeasurable. That's not to say The Choir lacked anything sonically on previous releases, but it's as if all the pieces came together this time.

Biography

Genre: Christian & Gospel

Years Active: '80s, '90s

Atmospheric alternative rock bands like Cocteau Twins and My Bloody Valentine influenced this alternative-Christian rock group. More melodic than most, the...
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