MIDLAND- 'THE SONIC RANCH' REVIEW.

 On March 20th, CMT aired a documentary about the start and origins of the country band, Midland. The 45-minutes-long documentary films the band back in 2014, when they decided to leave everything and spend 11 days on the Sonic Ranch music studio to record some songs they had been writing. The idea of being a band was not formed yet :they weren't even signed. It was more like a three friends' reunion after living in different parts of the country for years, far from each other.

The result of those recordings is The Sonic Ranch, which starts with one of the band's best songs, Fourteen Gears . It was previously included on their second album, Let it Roll. It's an on-the-road love letter and it paves the way for a more calm and placid sound. The band leaves all the risk and debauchery of their image as the 21st Century Honky Tonk American Band to get into this pleasant journey of tunes.They also leave all the cheating songs and focus on a deeper search of love and trust reciprocity, as Mark Wystrach sings in Worn Out Boots: 'When I hold you I // I feel alright', where he talks about a love story where the lover helps the other partner to get clean.

The band touches the usual country topic of the girl that leaves her boyfriend and town to chase her Hollywood dreams in Will This Life Be As Grand. The piece brings up some nostalgia that is persistent on the record (Fool's Luck, where they remember their adolescence).

The project has sparkling moments like Cowgirl Blues, Runnin Wild or Will This Life Be As Grand, but it also shows that the band needed to put the final touches to their ideas ( Champagne For The Pain).


The Sonic Ranch is a clear answer to all the controversy that has surrounded Midland  and their country origins. Nevertheless, it's interesting to see their sound direction from the beginning, before starting  their  songwriting combo with Josh Osborne and Shane McAnally.

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