Midlake have announced the release this Autumn of a 10th anniversary deluxe reissue of The Trials of Van Occupanther via Bella Union. It will be released on 180g gold vinyl, complete with a B2 pull-out poster, handwritten lyrics and previously unseen photos. The cover artwork has been reimagined in a fittingly flushed, hallucinatory painting by neo-impressionist (and pavement-scorching skateboarder) Brian Lotti (see below). The original album will be accompanied by a special bonus 7” featuring two previously unreleased tracks, the plaintive rolling lament of “The Fairest Way” (listen below) and the revelatory psychedelic swirl of “Festival”, two tracks recorded before original vocalist Tim Smith departed the band.
In 2014 we featured an exclusive interview with Tim Smith who was working on a new project called Harp. In the interview with Lawry-Joseph Tilbury (A.K.A Birdengine) he explained “Musically, I think Harp for the first album will sound very much the same as old Midlake. I won’t be breaking any new ground; I doubt I ever will, it’s not what I strive for. There will probably be subtle changes from the old Midlake stuff but for the most part if you enjoyed “Occupanther” and “Courage” then you’ll enjoy this.” You can read it in full here.
The Trials of Van Occupanther (10th Anniversary Deluxe Reissue) will be released 28th October via Bella Union.
You can follow the progress of Tim Smith here: http://harpband.com/