As a young(er) man I used to harbour fantasies of disappearing to the Midwest. I nearly got as far as booking flights on more than one occasion. I’ve no idea what I thought I would do there, or even why I thought it would be any better in Chicago, or Indiana, or Portland, than it was in Forest Hill.
Needless to say, I didn’t go. But if I had, I like to imagine that my life would have been soundtracked by bands like North Highlands. They are a Brooklyn band, but theirs is definitively the sound of the quiet romance of middle America. It’s music of scale: tiny personal tales set against a vast, wide-eyed backdrop. The personal and the panoramic combined beautifully.
‘Bruce’ is the frankly heartbreaking standout from North Highlands’ Wild One, which is out now. Stream the track below.
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