Having released an EP in summer 2021 en route, Midland’s Cameron Duddy, Mark Wystrach and Jess Carson are on the verge of arriving at their ultimate destination with The Last Resort: Greetings From. The trio spent the pandemic exploring their creative depths, from progressive Country that grew out of “Urban Cowboy” through Dwight Yoakam’s post-traditionalism, and arrive with their third studio album.

As lead single “Sunrise Tells The Story” makes its presence felt, the two-time Grammy nominees dial in their Laurel Canyon-cum-Bakersfield sound for a tension that also promises release. Falling harder than the singer imagined throughout the spicy hook-up song, melting harmonies lean into a more erotically charged proposition. “It’s a buckle-polishing song,” bassist/vocalist Duddy says, cutting to the chase. “Some songs dance all around it, but the truth is really told when the sun comes up. We’ve never shied away from getting into the high grass when it comes to the way sex and romantic adventure are a big piece of what Country music was, and we think should be. But sometimes, the hunter gets captured by the game.”

That erogenous charge fires The Last Resort: Greetings From throughout, as well as the idea of escape being a verb more than a noun. For the footloose trio who’s logged several hundred thousand miles – selling out the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo and resurrecting North Hollywood’s legendary Palomino Club along the way – it’s a soundtrack for people seceding from the grind, wanting more out of doing less, and believing in the heroics that made the original Outlaws strong compasses for almost a half century.

“It’s about more than the roots,” lead singer/guitarist Wystrach offers. “Because that makes you think of something that’s buried, which this music shouldn’t be. It’s about creating Country music that’s pure in a different kind of way, that draws on some of what’s been left behind but shouldn’t be. Some of these songs are pure Gary Stewart, others are the earliest Eagles stuff when they really were Country.”

“There are a lot of honky-tonk truths,” guitarist/vocalist Carson explains. “Some of them are the way a guitar or steel twines around the melody, almost a counterpoint or counter-narrative. To us, the playing is as important as the vocals or the lyrics. It’s not just a big wad of sound, but how the tracks build to extract the song’s essence. It’s a different thing, but it lets us not just have a sound, but make the songs more than just the hook… We’re trying to have people lean in, listen to the rest of what’s going on, too.”

The hooks, though, are undeniable. Worm at the bottom of a tequila bottle strength earworms, Midland understands how to pull you into their somewhat narcotic kind of Country. Hailed by The New York Times for “their retro-country elegance,” they have the smoothest edge of anyone in Country. It’s strong stuff that goes down easy, the sort of music to put on as you drive into the sunset or sunrise.