Burning Like the Midnight Sun is the 12th studio album by Christian alternative rock band The Choir, released on June 29, 2010.

Content

The track "Between Bare Trees" was inspired by the love of nature that drummer and lyricist Steve Hindalong

Steve Hindalong

Steve Hindalong is an American drummer, percussionist, songwriter and producer best known for his work with the alternative rock band The Choir...

 shares with his wife, Nancy. Explaining this song in an interview with Songfacts, he said: "She can identify most trees by their bark, seed and leaf. Through her eyes I have learned to appreciate the structure and beauty of bare trees. And it brings to mind the importance of transparency in a relationship."

Track listing

Reception

Burning Like the Midnight Sun has received some of the most positive reviews of any album in the band's career. Jeff Eibel, writing for the Spin Control column in the Chicago Sun-Times

Chicago Sun-Times

The Chicago Sun-Times is an American daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship paper of the Sun-Times Media Group.-History:The Chicago Sun-Times is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the city...

, called The Choir's latest release "a late-career triumph," and remarked that Midnight Sun was the band's "second exceptional album in a row, and its best since 1990’s landmark Circle Slide

Circle Slide

Circle Slide is the sixth studio album from Christian alternative rock band The Choir, released in 1990.-Recording history:Even with all the popular success that greeted Wide-Eyed Wonder and the band's relentless touring in support of that record, the circumstances that surrounded the creation of...

.” Christianity Today

Christianity Today

Christianity Today is an Evangelical Christian periodical based in Carol Stream, Illinois. It is the flagship publication of its parent company Christianity Today International, claiming circulation figures of 140,000 and readership of 290,000...

′s Andrew Greer

Andrew Greer

Andrew Greer is a nationally touring independent singer-songwriter and writer currently living in Nashville, Tennessee.- Background :Greer grew up in Azle, Texas before moving to Nashville, Tennessee to attend Belmont University. After graduating in 2004 with a Bachelor of Music , he worked at...

 highlighted the band's ability to create "smooth musical clarity to contrast the murky exploration of everyday faith," while The Phantom Tollbooth′s Derek Walker called Midnight Sun a "sonic delight" and The Choir's "most cohesive, melodic and atmospheric collection to date." In QRO Magazine, writer Lloyd Epperly claimed that Midnight Sun mines "similar sonic textures as The Church

The Church (band)

The Church is an Australian rock band formed in Sydney in 1980. Initially associated with new wave and the neo-psychedelic sound of the mid 1980s, their music later became more reminiscent of progressive rock, featuring long instrumental jams and complex guitar interplay...

 and Cocteau Twins

Cocteau Twins

Cocteau Twins were a Scottish alternative rock band active from 1979 to 1997, known for innovative instrumentation and atmospheric, non-lyrical vocals...

," and added that "it's as if all the pieces came together this time," while Cross Rhythms

Cross Rhythms

Cross Rhythms is a Christian media organisation based in Stoke-on-Trent, England.-History:The roots of what was to become Cross Rhythms go back to two separate sources which merged in 1991. In 1983, broadcaster Chris Cole started a 30-minute weekly Christian music radio show on Plymouth Sound FM, a...

 contributor Lins Honeyman simply called the album "[an] exemplary release." As of August 17, 2010, Burning Like the Midnight Sun has earned aggregate five-star reviews from consumers on both Amazon.com

Amazon.com

Amazon.com, Inc. is a multinational electronic commerce company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the world's largest online retailer. Amazon has separate websites for the following countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, and...

 and the iTunes Store

ITunes Store

The iTunes Store is a software-based online digital media store operated by Apple. Opening as the iTunes Music Store on April 28, 2003, with over 200,000 items to purchase, it is, as of April 2008, the number-one music vendor in the United States...

.

The Choir

• Derri Daugherty
  Derri Daugherty
  Derri Daugherty is an American record producer, songwriter, guitarist and singer, best known as the lead singer and guitarist for band The Choir....
  
   - Vocals, guitars
• Steve Hindalong
  Steve Hindalong
  Steve Hindalong is an American drummer, percussionist, songwriter and producer best known for his work with the alternative rock band The Choir...
  
   - Drums, percussion
• Tim Chandler
  Tim Chandler
  Tim Chandler is a bass guitar player, best known for his work with the rock bands Daniel Amos, The Swirling Eddies and The Choir....
  
   - Bass guitar
• Dan Michaels - Saxophone, lyricon
  Lyricon
  The Lyricon is an electronic wind instrument, the first wind controller to be constructed.Invented by Bill Bernardi , it was manufactured by a company called Computone Inc in Massachusetts...
  
  
• Marc Byrd
  Marc Byrd
  Marc Byrd is an American musician, writer, and producer best known as one-half of the post-rock/ambient duo Hammock, along with former Common Children band-mate Andrew Thompson....
  
   - Guitars

Production

• Executive Producer: Dan Michaels
• Produced by Derri Daugherty
  Derri Daugherty
  Derri Daugherty is an American record producer, songwriter, guitarist and singer, best known as the lead singer and guitarist for band The Choir....
  
   and Steve Hindalong
  Steve Hindalong
  Steve Hindalong is an American drummer, percussionist, songwriter and producer best known for his work with the alternative rock band The Choir...
  
  
• Recorded and mixed by Derri Daugherty
• Mastered by Jim DeMain at Yesmaster
• Cover painting: Ron Lyon
• Layout and design: Andrew Thompson