Midland’s The Last Resort EP arrives on Friday, and with it comes a quirky, detailed roll-out of the world that the band seeks to create with their new project.
That includes a digital magazine that the band created to advertise their self-created Last Resort Hotel & Day Spa, complete with an infomercial starring the group’s backing guitarist, Luke Cutchen.
“This infomercial has become all of our favorite part of this whole roll-out,” the band’s Cameron Duddy tells Billboard. “At the end of the day, it’s really just us having fun.”
The band owes a fair bit of this return to their playful side to The Sonic Ranch, a documentary about their origin story that they dropped back in March. Revisiting those early days pushed the trio toward “getting nostalgic about where we’ve come from, and reconnecting as friends. So it all emanates from within,” Cameron adds.
Plus, Midland simply had more time to come up with creative album rollout ideas. They were off the road due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and with two successful albums already under their belt, they felt a little more relaxed in their approach to music-making.
“I think historically, a lot of third albums tend to be this way. Typically, album one is you at your purest; album two, you’re on your back feet, and, if you have success, with album three you get to really plan your attack,” Cameron continues. “We’re just applying everything we’ve learned over the years.”
Midland says that they’re headed back into the studio soon to expand their project into a full-length album. For now, though, you can listen to the five new tracks on their just-released The Last Resort EP.
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