While I Want That You Are Always Happy, is technically The Middle East's first full length album, this by no means reflects their maturity as musicians. A blending of genres defines The Middle East's sound, from the more folky Fleet Foxes tones in "Months" or "Ninth Ave Reverie," to an ambient instrumental in "Sydney to Newcastle," to a meditative hymn in "Mount Morgan," to a more familiar indie rock sound in "Jesus Came to My Birthday Party." A plaintive tone is struck from the beginning and continued throughout the album, starting eerie and introspective in "Black Death 1349" and "My Grandma Was Pearl Hall." Though mixing genres can easily frustrate, The Middle East never strays too far from its folk foundation — well formed harmonies and instrumentation creates an emotional and personal album. Less upbeat than fellow Australians, Boy and Bear, the album has its share of faster tempo tracks to balance out the album. Check out "Jesus Came to My Birthday Party," "Land of The Bloody Unknown" and "Hunger Song."
In 2008, Mumford & Sons released a few low-profile EPs and then shook-up the indie folk rock world in 2010 with the release of their LP, Sigh No More and a handful of viral, artistic HD music videos. Could Boy & Bear be destined for a similarly rapid rise to prominence? Everything seems to be in place for that to become a reality. Multi-instrumentational indie folk rock jams are accompanied by soaring choral harmonies that, if you have been listing to anything indie these days, should sound like many other bands. Fleet Foxes, Local Natives, in addition to Mumford & Sons come to mind, and that is totally copacetic. The tracks can be both enthusiastically uptempo in addition to thoughtfully poetic. Boy & Bear seem to be doing all the right things: HD music videos? Check. Addicting EP? Check. Two word name separated by an "&" sign? Check. Now all we need is a feature length release and they are good to go. I look forward to the full length effort although I anticipate, like with M&S, some of the best tracks, such as "Mexican Mavis" and "Blood to Gold," will make repeat appearances.
