Lost amid focus on Midland's left-of-mainstream sound and style are songs with rich, descriptive and efficient lyrics. "Burn Out" is the trio's most serious single to date. The mid-tempo country swinger aches.

The Cadillac Three fall victim to the same oversight. We get so caught up in the full package that we miss some great country poetry. The first verse of "Burn Out" is particularly fresh. "Just watchin' rivers run / Down the side of my bottle / Almost like it's cryin' my tears / Had the world on a string / And then I lost everything / And that's how I wound up here," lead singer Mark Wystrach sings. 

It's easy to find a country duo or group that harmonizes as well as Wystrach, Jess Carson and Cameron Duddy, but none do it with the same rush of power. A thick wall of focused sound hits like a fire hose and renders all other production superfluous and unnecessary. It's exciting for a country traditionalist to listen to what Midland are doing and dream, but the contemporary edges that shape songs like "Burn Out" add something that could (perhaps, one day, maybe?) shift the mainstream.

Did You Know?: Midland are nominated for three awards at the 2018 ACM Awards in Las Vegas.

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Midland, "Burn Out" Lyrics:

Watchin' cigarettes burn out / 'Til all the neon gets turned out / I was so on fire for you it hurts, how / Fast as a cigarette can burn out.

Just watchin' rivers run / Down the side of my bottle / Almost like it's cryin' my tears / Had the world on a string / And then I lost everything / And that's how I wound up here.

Chorus:
Watchin' cigarettes burn out / 'Til all the neon gets turned out / There's nothing left but empty glasses now / It's all flashes now / The smokin' memory that ain't nothin' but ashes / In the low lights / These done me wrong songs hit me so right / I'm so on fire for you it hurts, how / Fast as one cigarette can burn out.

If you put your hands on the flame / You've got no right to complain / 'Cause you know it's gonna leave a mark / When the glow comes to an end / Like scattered embers in the wind / Leaves you lookin' for a brand new spark / Watchin' cigarettes burn out.

Now with every hit / I'm gonna quit / But who am I kiddin' / I just can't put you down / So I keep hangin' around.

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