The Middle East, I Want That You Are Always Happy

By J Howell

It’s a rare thing when a band comes along whose music is an instant game-changer, the kind of band that’s simultaneously comfortable but complex; easily understandable but somehow nearly indescribable, like an old friend. The Middle East is just that. (Well, was . . . more on that in a moment.)

My first exposure to the Australian seven-piece came late last year, when a very dear friend, an American expat in Melbourne, sent me a homemade compilation featuring two Middle East tracks—”Blood” and “Darkest Side”—two of the most out-of-nowhere amazing songs I’d heard in quite some time. “Blood” especially is the kind of song that is absolutely tear-jerkingly, emotionally wrenching, despite also being the kind of song you find yourself singing along to by the time the first listen is over, somehow reaffirming the absolute beauty of life even through its most heartbreaking moments. I was immediately enamored and couldn’t wait to hear more as soon as possible.

A few months after that first encounter with their music, The Middle East announced a new record, their first full-length, I Want That You Are Always Happy. After living with the record long enough to feel comfortable writing about it, I began researching a bit, confirming details about the band, and attempting to confirm I wasn’t missing or misunderstanding anything in the few lyrical places where differences between Australian and American English might cause confusion, only to find an announcement on the band’s Facebook page that they were calling it a day, just weeks after the record was released.

While it’s hopeful that this isn’t the end for The Middle East—the band called it quits for around eight months in 2008, only to reform—it would be a damned shame if I Want That You Are Always Happy failed to reach listeners because of the band’s demise. This record is, in short, the kind that quickly finds a permanent place in one’s heart; it’s the kind of record that, if music really means something to you, you know you’ll find yourself coming back to time and again.

One of the more admirable traits of both the band and this record is the uncanny way The Middle East has of presenting material that is obviously, intensely personal in such a way that the listener can’t help but internalize the songs. As such, in many places, I Want That You Are Always Happy is easily enjoyable (if sometimes challenging) upon first listen, but grows on one the more time one spends with it. Describing the band’s aesthetic is deceptively simple at times. There are several applicable references in the same ballpark, especially when the band traffics in backbeat-heavy near-Americana. Comparisons to Fleet Foxes are predictable, if unfairly superficial.

In other places, it’s hard not to imagine The Middle East has spent time with records from M. Ward (“Dan’s Silverleaf”), Sufjan Stevens (“Months”), and Greatest Palace Music-era Will Oldham (“Deep Water”). Though there are certainly similarities, instrumentally more than lyrically, The Middle East is far from derivative here, and while some of them make the listener work a little harder for the reward, there’s not a bad track among the fourteen songs.

While the overall aesthetic could be loosely described as “folky,” there is enough sonic variation within to stay musically interesting from start to finish, though the record gets off to a somewhat sluggish start. Perhaps The Middle East’s greatest strength, and the most endearing aspect of I Want That You Are Always Happy, is the way both the band and this record often deal in themes that are uncomfortable—particularly disappointment between parents and children and multiple varieties of loss, exhaustion, and sadness—while finding some sense of comfort, affirmation, and occasionally even joy within the difficulties life presents.

While on paper, lyrics such as You said that your daddy was a painter of sorts/but I never saw him paint a thing/he just kept the tins underneath his bed/and sniffed a different colour every night/and dreamed of a place up in the sky/where everyone’s a painter til they die (from “Ninth Avenue Reverie”) may read as downright depressing, but in execution, they’re strangely comforting and quite lovely. Another lyric from the same song, You say that you can’t stop crying, it’s just the power of the song, is quite applicable to many of The Middle East’s songs, without being self-conscious or self-referential in the slightest.

While it’s disheartening to hear the band has decided to call it quits, it may be lamentably forgivable; the song “Months” is weary and homesick, almost sighing about not having enough time for self and friends before opening up into a beautiful, near-epic middle section. It’s understandable that even a group of the closest of friends; from a small town (Townsville, Queensland, for Pete’s sake); spending an awful lot of time in each other’s company; often far from home, family, and loved ones; creating and presenting such personal, emotionally charged work; could burn out sooner rather than later. Understandable, but a damned shame nonetheless.

The Middle East was, for lack of a better word, special. Perhaps after some time off, they’ll change their minds, or at the very least, maybe we’ll see the members resurface again in other projects down the line. In any event, I Want That You Are Always Happy is both an exceptional debut and a masterful swan song, one of the best records of the year, and an album many listeners will become attached to and enjoy for years to come.

I Want That You Are Always Happy was released on July 12 through Missing Piece Records and can be ordered from the band’s website.