Jeff Lake’s Midnight Sun is an eclectic and life-affirming collection that, if nothing else, underlines his love for writing and performing his own material. He proudly wears his influences on his sleeve, and the confluence of bluegrass, country, rock, and folk synthesizes into what he dubs “country-fried rock”. He isn’t remaking the musical wheel. Instead, Jeff Lake and his new collection prove there’s considerable life in pouring old wine into new bottles.
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His personalized songwriting touch is the biggest factor elevating these tracks. Midnight Sun draws from a cornucopia of instruments such as pedal steel, upright bass, electric guitar, acoustic, mandolin, fiddle, and banjo. This wide range supplies him with one superlative vehicle after another for his musings about life, love, and American life circa 2024. Accomplishing this without succumbing to heavy-handed broad stroking further sets him apart from the pack.
The title song begins things on an upbeat note. He leads off with the chorus in a near-audacious move before launching into the song in earnest. Working in an understated Led Zeppelin reference during those opening lyrics serves notice that this isn’t quite business as usual, and the song’s progression further illustrates it. Fiddle counterpoints Lake’s vocal with great effectiveness. “The Lucky One” pulls back on the reins some. Lake opts for minimal accompaniment for the album’s second track and builds the arrangement around his voice, acoustic guitar, and fiddle. His lyrical excellence gets more focus as a result, and the detail-laden writing ranks among the best words he pens for this release.
He interjects bluesy flavor into “Seven Days” via recurring slide guitar. It does not exert an outsized presence on the performance and serves much of the same musical purpose as the fiddle in earlier tracks. It provides the chief “duet accompaniment” for Lake’s voice without ever overshadowing his lead vocals. “Ain’t Misbehavin’” couples classic country influences such as pedal steel guitar with a pop song structure with impressive results. You can hear the song’s origins in its acoustic guitar track running throughout the cut, and Lake does an exemplary job building around that critical element.
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“My GF Gotta BF” is one of a handful of tracks clearly exhibiting major commercial potential. It is a clear candidate for single status even after a few seconds in and does nothing to dissuade listeners over its three and a half minute running time. One of the most appealing aspects of the performance is the near effortless swing that it hits upon from the outset, and added classic country instrumentation throughout the song further buttresses its merits.
“My Best Friend” concludes the album on an exquisitely poignant note. The hushed acoustic tone and well-written lyrics are crucial. However, Lake’s emotional vocals are the heart of the performance. Jeff Lake’s Midnight Sun is full of human experiences viewed from multiple angles and accompanied by first-class playing and musical arrangements. None of the songs are duds. Lake has crafted one of 2024’s most durable releases that holds up well after repeated listens.
Garth Thomas