“Here to Stay”
from the album Glowing Mouth
2011
iTunes
Occasionally a contemporary band or solo artist comes along and puts out music so good the listener almost can’t believe what he’s hearing. Artists that fall into that category: Mother Mother. OutKast. Bon Iver. Now there’s Milagres (“Glowing Mouth,” Summer Jams ’11).
The Brooklyn-based quintet has existed in various incarnations for several years and has a full-length album coming out Sept. 13 on Kill Rock Stars called Glowing Mouth. The song you can listen to above, “Here to Stay,” is the second track on the album.
A driving keyboard, thumping drums, steady percussion and acoustic guitar propel the track, with more keyboards, a soaring electric guitar and what sounds like a glockenspiel adding accents. Singer and guitarist Kyle Wilson’s voice pushes through with dreamy lyrics (to borrow an accurate description from the Village Voice) to tell a restless story (to borrow a line from the song).
Milagres also does well what lots of contemporary bands struggle with: It blends electric and acoustic instruments in a way that not only seems completely natural, but makes one wonder why so many other bands can’t get a sampler or synthesizers to sound at home with an acoustic guitar.
The other members of the band are Eric Schwortz on guitar, backing vocals and percussion; Chris Brazee on piano and keys; Fraser McCulloch on bass, backing vocals and keys; and Steven Leventhal on drums and percussion. It’s almost ridiculous how good this band is.