Roughrider by Mint Mile is magnificent. It’s their second full-length album and fifth record overall, which is remarkable considering the band was formed in 2014. Things take their own time and form in the band’s universe. The music is complex but simple at the same time. Not easy to do. It’s both a band and a collaboration.The sound is full, but not overly busy. Pedal steel, cello and saxophone weave in and out of the songs, the baritone guitar anchors everything, the singing and lyrical content are perfect in the setting.
Obviously, a lot of care and work went into the construction of Roughrider, but it doesn’t seem overworked and sterile. It has more in common with Jason Molina than Steely Dan, but it truly is a sound of its own. Fans of Tim Midyett’s work in his previous bands (Silkworm, Bottomless Pit) will welcome the presence of Joel RL Phelps of Vancouver, Canada, who contributes alto sax to two songs. Nina Nastasia contributes vocals to the closing number on the album, “I Hope It’s Different,” an absolutely devastating finale.
This eight-song album is a perfect soundtrack to consider possibilities, and life itself. I love it, and maybe you will, too. If you like music that exists on its own terms, and doesn’t pander to expectations, then buy everything this band has put out. Fans of Wilco, Songs: Ohia or Silkworm will definitely find much to like here. – John O