Breathe Michigan City IN

Breathe

Midnight Oil

The Work Group, 1996

REVIEW BY: Sean McCarthy

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 12/14/1997

Throughout its 20 year career, Midnight Oil has always managedto weave through different trends of music and make it their own.Their Blue Sky Mining masterpiece hinted at the direction U2 tookwhen they made The Joshua Tree. Their 1993 release, Earth And Sun And Moon followed the 'stripped down,minimalist' trend followed by such bands as Nirvana and Pavement.They retained much of their signiature sound, so they neverappeared to "sell out" each time they shifted musicaldirections.

Enter 1996. While Midnight Oil's fanbase has remained strong,they haven't had a huge hit since their 1988 single, "Beds AreBurning." With their move to the Work label, pressure on a newalbum was minimal. What resulted was probably the most radicaldeparture of the band's career. Part Achtung, Baby, part Sandinista! and mostly Midnight Oil, Breathe threw a lot of people off when it came out. Even Iwas a bit worried when I saw the liner notes. In the "specialthanks" column, the Oils thanked producer Malcolm Burn for his"approach and sensibility."

"Underwater," the first track, opens with a scratchy, muffledguitar chord. The most radio-friendly track of the bunch, leadsinger Peter Garrett widens his vocal range on this track while JimMoginie and Martin Rotsey expand their guitar skills. The preachylyrics of some of their earlier works are still present, but on"Underwater," a more optimistic tone is present. "No one can makeher/no one can break her down," Garrett sings in that track. Thattone is picked up on the next track, "Surf's Up Tonight."

Malcom Burn may not be the first choice you would think of as aproducer, but the two worked together perfectly on Breathe. He made Patti Smith's grief turn into a beautifulalbum that year with Gone Again. In Breathe, Burn seemed to push the Oils into taking every riskthey thought necessary. That includes instrumental jammers,countryish ballads and even a guest vocal slot by EmmylouHarris.