Midlake - The Trials of Van Occupanther Album Review

Midlake
The Trials of Van Occupanther
Album Review

Time and again a band will come along that you just cant label, a welcome cat amongst the musical pigeons, and all for the right reasons. Midlake not only embraces the hearts of many, but with their forthcoming album, The Trials of Van Occupanther, they should embrace everybody with arms wide open.

They get a lot of comparisons to Grandaddy but i think after listening to this fine second album, Midlake, a quintet from Denton, Texas, will soon replace any CD's you once had of them granddaddy people!! With a sound like they spend more time tending the fields, shifting their Stetsons (that's the picture i have of Texas anyway) and listening to 70's pop this really is a peace of musical mastery, one you could listen to with the headphones on to relax any stresses out. Now while neither myself nor any staff at contactmusic.com can condone the use off drugs (not publicly anyhow) there is certain tracks on this album that'll blow chemically-altered minds onto a journey to their very own Texan show.
Midlake's drifty space pop gives you warm psychedelic melodies that have not been heard in a long time.

Warm, chilled melodies complement organs, pianos, flutes, acoustic guitars, horns, Rhodes, drums and pretty much every other instrument you are likely to find. There's something strange about this album that i cant put my finger on with its charming, sweet infectious songs and offbeat take on pop. Like the adventurous title things are certainly not what they appear to be with Midlake,s second album to label Bella Union.

This will be one of the CD's you pull out of your mates collection with a "what's that!?" look about you and when your advised to put it on...your sent into a world of dreams and it wont be long before its added to yours.

Adam Prickett