The Trials of Van Occupanther

The second studio album by Midlake, released on Bella Union on July 25, 2006. It was recorded and mixed in Denton, Texas, with all eleven songs written by Tim Smith.^[1]

Drawing on 1970s soft rock and country rock, with Fleetwood Mac as a frequent touchstone, the record is not a strict concept album but carries a common thread of warmth and longing for another era.^[5] Smith has said the band was not making a deliberate retro project; they had simply been immersed in 1970s albums during the sessions.^[3]

Critics received it warmly, and it holds a Metacritic score of 78.^[1]