Midlake recently released their fifth studio album, For the Sake of Bethel Woods.

It's their first album since 2013's Antiphon, and the second to feature guitarist Eric Pulido on vocals after founding frontman Tim Smith left the band in 2012.

Having gone on hiatus at the end of the Antiphon touring cycle, the idea of making new music was first floated in 2019. The deal was sealed when keyboardist/flautist Jesse Chandler had a dream in which he was visited by his father, who'd recently passed away. In that dream his dad said it was time to get the band back together.

Jesse's dad Dave is on the cover of For the Sake of Bethel Woods, captured at the age of 16 at Woodstock, and we talk about that image in this interview, as well as that dream.

We also talk about the themes around the new record, the band's hiatus, Eric's upbringing and path into Midlake and more.