Ex-Midlake man looks to medieval England and 80s music production for inspiration.
THE LONE FIGURE in a cloak holding an acoustic guitar on the cover of Albion might seem familiar. That’s because it’s Tim Smith, co-founder of alternative folk-rockers Midlake, and the artwork for his debut LP as Harp is inspired by ancient English history and some recognisable prog-folk sleeve art such as John and Beverley Martyn’s Stormbringer! and John Boorman’s 1981 medieval fantasy flick, Excalibur.
The image was taken on an iPad while out with his wife Kathi Zung “pretty close to our house in Durham, North Carolina, on a snowy day”, Smith tells us on a Zoom call.“We thought,‘Let’s just go take an example that could possibly be the cover. We really liked it, but it was poor quality, so we went back the next year but the snow and grass never looked the same, and I just couldn’t stand the same way.”
The image works in conveying the mystery of Albion, an album that took Smith over 10 years to complete following his departure from Midlake in 2012. Part folk, part electronica, Smith’s aim was “to see if I could make something that I was really pleased with. I didn’t quite feel that with Midlake stuff. I’m grateful for that music but I felt I could do better.”
Smith was, and continues to be, on a quest. Looking for a musical Holy Grail, perhaps?
“I thought, ‘I’ll just be solo now and I’ll make the album that I want to make.’ That took forever [laughs]!”
Admitting that lyric-writing comes last for him, Smith details his songwriting method: “While I’m trying to formulate melodies, I usually just open a book of poetry and read along so I’m creating melodies using someone else’s words. Sometimes the words are so good, they just stick and can’t be topped, so I ended up using some William Blake for Throne Of Amber.”
