It’s been a long time since we’re heard from former Midlake frontman Tim Smith; he hasn’t made a record since 2010’s The Courage of Others, which was his last with the band. In the 13 years since, he got divorced, quit the band, left Texas for North Carolina, got remarried and other “life” stuff, and all the while kept working on new songs under the name Harp.
As you can tell by the cover art to Harp’s debut album, Albion, Smith is still interested in the medieval era, William Blake, English folk and all things pastoral and old (real or imagined), but in that last decade plus he discovered ’80s goth, which has pushed aside the ’70s touchstones heard in his albums with Midlake. He also welcomed a new collaborator, his wife Kathi Zung, who is a puppeteer by trade (she worked on Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio) but programmed the vintage drum machines used on the album. Albion is very clearly from the same person who gave us “Roscoe” and “Young Bride,” and the chord progressions, melodies and harmonies are all in familiar Tim Smith territory. But the production and arrangements make it feel like a record that would’ve come out on 4AD records in 1985 alongside Cocteau Twins and Dif Juz. Albion is a bewitching alchemy and you can listen to it below.
We asked Tim to tell us more about the influences behind Albion, which include The Cure, Cocteau Twins, The Sundays and Clannad, but also fantasy films, books and more. Read that below.
TIM SMITH ON THE INFLUENCES BEHIND HARP’S DEBUT ALBUM ‘ALBION’
Fantasy Films
A major influence of Harp would be the fantasy/medieval movies that Kathi and I loved as kids (and still do). Movies like Dragonslayer, Legend, Beastmaster, Krull, and Excalibur (shown here). Also, just the look of film in general is very important to us. When writing songs I typically imagine a scene and it’s always through the lens of 70’s/80’s film. There’s just something more magical about film that to me captures a feeling better than viewing the same thing in real life. Film seems to automatically imbue more meaning into whatever is happening.
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Clannad – “Robin (The Hooded Man)”
Continuing with the fantasy theme, here’s one of our favorites – Clannad singing the theme song to the 80s British tv show, Robin of Sherwood. Kathi and I watched ALL of these when we were in the thick of recording the album. The pressure was mounting to get the album finished, so for lunch we’d watch someone else get beat down for 25 minutes.
Art & Photos
Oftentimes I use pictures for imagery/inspiration when writing songs. This was a painting that I stumbled onto and looked at a lot while writing “A Fountain”. The overall feeling I got from it was what I wanted to hear musically.
And also this photo with its great misty, cold, grey castle, was one I returned to many times while writing. I’m just now seeing some similarities between this and our album cover… hmm.
The Sundays – “You’re Not The Only One I Know”
While recording in England in 2017 with my friends from the band Hollow Hand, I visited Herstmonceux Castle. I’d just been introduced to The Sundays album Reading, Writing, & Arithmetic (which I’ve got to say is one of my all-time favorite albums). I had their song “You’re Not The Only One I Know” on repeat while walking around the grounds. I remember it as a very wonderful and peaceful day – one of those days that feels like the end of an era and the beginning of a new one. Later when I met Kathi, I found out this album was also one of her favorites of all-time – Dealmaker!
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Josquin des Prez
My roots from childhood are in jazz and classical music. Josquin des Prez, Monteverdi, Gesualdo, Palestrina, etc. have always been highly influential to me. Kathi and I were both really moved by this performance of a Josquin classic. There’s a lot going on in this room. Extremely skilled performers, singing with what appears to be complete devotion and feeling, connecting with each other, in an intimate setting where the viewer/listener is practically in the room with them. It’s very moving to watch them translate the song’s pain of regret through their voices and movements. The last chord is the reward that seems to answer all that’s come before it … accepting the loss.
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’70s / ’80s Recording Studios
Another way we kept motivated was (and yes motivation was imperative during the 5 years of working together) we spent many of our short breaks looking at old photos of awesome 70’s and 80’s recording studios filled with analog equipment. Yes, very nerdy, I know, but for some reason it kept us going. It excited us with the possibilities we had in our own home studio. Same feeling you get when visiting a record store and realizing you wish you were at home trying to make a record of your own. I actually use this photo [taken from a Mike Oldfield documentary clip on YouTube] currently as my desktop photo, if we’re being honest here.
The Cocteau Twins – Live on ‘The Tube’
Another source of fuel for us to stay engaged while recording was watching performances such as this super cool one by Cocteau Twins. Robin’s guitar sound in the intro is like some galaxy portal opening up, just incredible, and when the beat kicks in… ah glorious!
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The Cure – “One Hundred Years”
Also, this performance of “One Hundred Years” by The Cure was a favorite. Such intensity in the band and the audience. Enough has probably been said now in interviews about my love for their album Faith but I’ll say it again here that without that album, our album would never have sounded the way it does.
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Fra Lippo Lippi – “Shouldn’t Have To be Like That”
Though we don’t know much about the band Fra Lippo Lippi, we liked watching this cold, grey, cemetery romp a lot.
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Robin Hobb’s Fantasy Novels
To my embarrassment I don’t do much reading, but I really enjoyed this fantasy series by Robin Hobb and read all 12 books in the series. I tend to lose interest if things get too complicated but this one was just the right speed and masterfully written.
