The black midi universe expands again one month from today with Rough Trade’s July 15 release of Hellfire. Ahead of their third album, the U.K.-based trio of Geordie Greep (guitar, vocals), Cameron Picton (bass, vocals) and Morgan Simpson (drums) have now shared a second single from the record, “Eat Men Eat.”
A frenetic rock-flamenco fusion sung and written by Picton (and originally known only as “Flamenco” on the band’s setlists), the song is “the story of a couple’s quest to overcome a militaristic Mine Captain cursed with an acid tongue as well as their own uncomfortable internal grumblings,” as a press release summarizes. Acoustic guitars, a restrained Simpson, and palmas and other percussion from Demi García Sabat set the scene. Foregrounding its immersive narrative, “Eat Men Eat” is slinky where its predecessor “Welcome to Hell” was incendiary—that is, until its explosive climax, when its protagonists “kept running, turned our backs on our hell,” escaping damnation, if only for the moment. The end of the song incorporates 50 fan-submitted recordings, cementing “Eat Men Eat” as a feast for the black midi diehards, in particular.
Picton offers a deep dive on the song’s story, which references the band’s previous record Cavalcade (the Red River Mining Company first mentioned in “Diamond Stuff,” to be exact), in a statement:
The story starts in the desert with two men engaged in a desperate search for missing friends. Their quest leads them to a strange mining facility which, despite a dearth of natural resources in the area, opens its doors for even stranger hosts to welcome them.
That evening, with zero sign of their friends, a massive feast is laid on by the mine’s cantankerous Captain, who performs a long speech encouraging all to indulge as this is to be the workers’ last night before returning to their families. With good reason for suspicion the protagonists feign gluttony and consume as little as humanly possible. Unfortunately, as they later find, even that’s not quite enough. Night falls, they hide and as the workers fall comatose, the wardens, overseen by the Captain, make preparations to pump their poisoned stomachs. It turns out the purpose of the mine is to procure an excess of human stomach acid used in the production of a bastardized blood red wine, sold and loved in the region.
After the wider conspiracy is revealed and upon realizing their friends must be long gone, the partners decide they must destroy the facility. A spanner plugs the works however, as one of the men experiences mild effects of the poison and the production of acid in his stomach goes into overdrive. As his chest literally bubbles he says what may be his final goodbyes to his partner and the other man is left to do the heavy lifting alone.
He succeeds and as they flee, arm in arm, the demon Captain erupts from the burning embers and curses the two men to the hell of crippling acid reflux for the rest of their days. They see no reason to worry though, as they’re sure to return home hailed as heroes.
black midi have a handful of E.U./U.K. festivals sets lined up ahead of a mid-July trip to the States for some of their biggest shows yet, with keyboardist Seth Evans filling out their live lineup, and support from their esteemed colleagues Black Country, New Road. Tickets for all shows—except a handful of just-announced U.K. and E.U. dates, which are bolded below and go on sale June 23—are on sale now.
Check out the “Eat Men Eat” video (dir. Maxim Kelly) and black midi’s tour dates below.
black midi Tour Dates:
June
19 – Vilnius, LT @ 8 Festival
25 – Somerset, UK @ Glastonbury Festival
30 – Budapest, HU @ Kolorado Festival
July
01 – Bucharest, RO @ Club Control
03 – Plovdiv, BG @ Wrong Fest
09 – Trencin, SK @ Pohoda
13 – London, UK @ Summer Series at Somerset House
15 – Riga, LV @ Positivus Festival
17 – Dour, BE @ Dour Festival
21 – Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock Club
23 – Asbury Park, NJ @ Asbury Lanes
24 – New York, NY @ Central Park SummerStage
29 – Puglia, IT @ Sud Est Indipendente
31 – Sesto al Reghena, IT @ Sexto’Nplugged
August
01 – Sestri Levante, IT @ Mojotic Festival
12 – Rees Haldern, DE @ Haldern Pop
15 – Stockholm, SE @ Debaser
17 – Essen, DE @ Ruhrtriennale
21 – Winterthur, CH @ Winterthurer Musikfestwochen
26 – La Tour de Peilz, CH @ Nox Orae
September
01 – Sun. Sep. 4 – Dorset, UK @ End of the Road Festival
03 – Manchester, UK @ Manchester Psych Fest
06 – Baltimore, MD @ Rams Head Live
07 – Richmond, VA @ The National
09 – Asheville, NC @ The Orange Peel
10 – Athens, GA @ Georgia Theatre
12 – Birmingham, AL @ Saturn
14 – Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall
16 – Austin, TX @ Mohawk
20 – Tucson, AZ @ Hotel Congress Plaza
22 – Pomona, CA @ The Glass House
23 – San Diego, CA @ Music Box
24 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Wiltern Theatre
27 – San Francisco, CA @ The Warfield Theatre
28 – Sacramento, CA @ Harlow’s
29 – Reno, NV @ Cargo Concert Hall
October
03 – Boulder, CO @ Fox Theatre
04 – Denver, CO @ Ogden Theatre
07 – Lawrence, KS @ The Granada
08 – Omaha, NE @ Slowdown
09 – Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue
12 – Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall
14 – Columbus, OH @ The Athenaeum Theatre
15 – Louisville, KY @ Headliners Music Hall
28 – Liverpool, UK @ Invisible Wind Factory
29 – Newcastle, UK @ NX
November
01 – Antwerp, BE @ Trix
02 – Paris, FR @ Bataclan
03 – Lyon, FR @ Marché Gare
07 – Copenhagen, DK @ Vega
09 – Utrecht, NL @ Tivoli
10 – Rotterdam, NL @ Maasssilo
14 – Glasgow, UK @ Old Fruitmarket
16 – Bristol, UK @ SWX
19 – Mexico City, MX @ Corona Capital Music Festival
December
04 – Tokyo, JP @ O-East
05 – Osaka, JP @ Club Quattro
06 – Nagoya, JP @ The Bottom Line
