The Courage of Others

The Courage of Others
Studio album by Midlake
Released	February 1, 2010 (2010-02-01)
Genre	Folk rock Progressive folk
Length	41:45
Label	Bella Union
Midlake chronology
The Trials of Van Occupanther (2006) The Courage of Others (2010) Antiphon (2013)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
BBC	(positive)[2]
Drowned in Sound	[3]
musicOMH	[4]
NME	[5]
One Thirty BPM	(5.2/10)[6]
Rolling Stone	[7]
Spin	[8]
Toro	[9]
Classic Rock	[10]

The Courage of Others is the third studio album by American folk rock band Midlake. It was released on February 1, 2010, on Bella Union Records.^[11] The album sleeve pays homage to Andrei Rublev, a 1966 film by Russian writer and director Andrei Tarkovsky.^[12]

Reception

In 2014, drownedinsound.com called the album "a masterclass in crafted repose – repeated listens and time spent in its company yielding considerable reward". While Uncut was less impressed: "Midlake's secret is out: they're highly skilled dilettantes, attempting to master a different genre on each album just to give themselves a challenge. That's no crime in itself, and it beats making the same record over and over again, but it may explain the gaping hole at the heart of this strangely frigid album". And Tinymixtapes called it "the first great record of 2010, though one that admittedly requires a little adjusting... I’m not going to say that opener “Acts of Man” — with songwriter Tim Smith’s lyric “When all the newness of gold/ Travels far from where anyone’s been/ More like the earth/ Over years” lilting over plucked acoustic guitars and skittering snare — isn’t a little ridiculous; the kind of pompous, overblown rock poetry that punk was supposed to have killed. But I’ll argue that it serves as an appropriate disclaimer for the album: If you engage in the alien nomenclature — the way most of us have to when we listen to, say, Lil Wayne or Sun Ra — you’re in for an incredible listen."

Track listing

All songs written by Tim Smith.^[13]

Credits

Midlake

• Tim Smith - Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Flute, Recorder, Piano, Keyboards
• Eric Pulido - Guitars, Dulcimer, Autoharp, Percussion, Backing Vocals
• Paul Alexander - Bass, Electric Guitar, Bassoon
• McKenzie Smith - Drums, Percussion
• Eric Nichelson - Guitars, Autoharp, Percussion

with

• Max Townsley - Electric Guitar
• Jesse Chandler - Harpsichord
• Fiona Brice - Violin
• Stephanie Dosen - Harmony vocals on 'Bring Down'

References