Woke up again today,

This track comes from the grumpy genius, Malcolm Middleton, half of the stalwart Scottish indie band Arab Strap. The Strap formed in 1995 in Falkirk, Scotland, with Aidan Moffat, whence they proceeded to write and perform songs about Scotland, shitty jobs and shitty wages, dirty sex, drinking, fighting - all the good stuff in other words - with their first album, The Week Never Starts Round Here. Around this time, supposedly their live shows were quite incendiary - apparently a show in London (with their friends Mogwai) ended with the audience storming the stage and destroying the bands' equipment. In the late 90s, they started adding drum machines and a 303 to their dark pop mix, which opened many new doors for the band. Since then they've totalled up five studio albums and a handful of EPs and self-released records, as well as solo-work (Aidan also records as Lucky Pierre).

The Strap's label, and Malcolm's as well, is the Glasgow-based Chemikal Underground records - also home to Bis, Mogwai and the Delgado's - they've had a close working relationship since the mid-90s, and Middleton's new album, Into The Woods, sees its release there as well.

"Medium" is not the first single off the new album, but I'll call it that anyway. Into The Woods is twelve tracks of bittersweet songs full of Middleton's sharply barbed wit, infectiously poppy melodies, and gorgeous arrangements, with guest appearances by Stuart Braithwaite and Barry Burns (from Mogwai), The Delgados’ Paul Savage, and Strap collaborator Moffat. I have been posting a lot of songs lately that are either sad or dark (or both) lyrically speaking, but at the same time are laid across beautifully arranged, lush and melodic pop music backdrops, and "Medium" is no exception. All the songs on the album share this quality. At the same time, they all take a slightly different approach, sonically, which I appreciate. With a similar quirky electronic pulse, "No Modest Bear" takes this heavy grinding synthesizer and sets it along side guitars, piano, and (what sounds like) a harpsichord. Another of my favorite tracks, "Loneliness Shines" is a heady mix of acoustic guitars and harmonium keyboards with a killer live-drum backbeat. Not to spoil it for anyone, but despite the sinister, lyrical darkness that comes across in his music, Middleton is quite a nice guy. (Sorry to let the cat out of the bag Malcolm!)

Into The Woods is out June 13th on Chemikal Underground in the UK - it will be available to buy here. Sadly, as of writing this at least, there isn't a US distributor for the record, which really is a shame because its really an incredible piece of work. Hopefully an American label will pick it up... If you'd like to hear more of Malcolm Middleton's work, check out his earlier solo album, 5:14 Fluoxytine Seagull Alcohol John Nicotine (available at Insound, here), and if you're not familair with Arab Strap, check out their most recent full-length, Monday at the Hug and Pint, available here, or their 1998 effort, Philophobia.

Cheer up!