Album: Midlake

Like The Handsome Family, the Texan alt.rock combo Midlake seek to uncover the spiritual magic hidden beneath the veneer of everyday life, expressing in The Trials Of Van Occupanther a deep affection for the bucolic, and a preference for the simple and solitary lifestyle. "Let me not be too concerned with this world," proposes the album's titular hero, "Sometimes I want to go home and stay out of sight for a long time"; while the couple burgled in "Bandits" seem to relish the opportunity to start up again from scratch with just "a rabbit and an ox". The irony is that, apart from occasional moments such as the mystic-folksy Avebury vibe of "We Gathered in Spring", Midlake's preferred musical frame of reference owes rather less to simple folk and country modes than to the likes of Fleetwood Mac, Brian Wilson and Steely Dan, high-water marks of pop sophistication. But somehow it works: the singer-songwriter Tim Smith has a taste for oblique chord progressions and piquant vocal harmonies which, despite his somewhat wordy, serpentine narratives, imbue his songs with a beguiling mystery. The result recall the genial eccentricity of Van Dyke Parks.

DOWNLOAD THIS: 'Roscoe', 'Van Occupanther', 'Branches', 'Head Home'