MAGIC WANDS – ILLUMINATE
A SPILL EXCLUSIVE ALBUM PREMIERE
Itโs been a while since the last full-length album from electro indiepop duoย Magic Wands. Finally, we are able (and thrilled) to present you their fourth long-play Illuminateย – a collection of songs that will have you eating out of the palm of their hand.
Produced, mixed and recorded themselves in their home studio over the past six months, this inspiration for this album lies in introspection, escapism, fantasy, love and dreamscape scenarios. This offering follows singles ย ‘Blue Cherry’,ย ‘Angel Dust’ย andย ‘Cyan Blue’, which also appear on the album, packaged nicely with many new delights. All of these delights are bound to thrill fans of Beach House, The XX, Crystal Castles, Tiny Fireflies, Wild Nothing and DIIV, to name a few bands cut of similar fabric.
Magic Wands areย Chris and Dexy Valentine. Influenced by British and European new wave, post punk and 80’s pop music with a futurist flare, the couple formed the band in 2011, first linking up through Myspace while living on opposite sides (in Los Angeles and Nashville). Especially for this premiere, Dexy and Chris offer us some insight into the inspiration behind each track on this albumโฆ
โข Honeymoonย – Runningย off to Niagara Falls and the Poconos in the 80โs
โข Blue Cherryย – A futuristic love song
โข Angel Dustย – People who possess a magic spark
โข Paradiseย – Finding your way to to your own paradise
โข Psychic Alienย – Intro to track 6
โข Illuminateย – An email from the future
โข Bat Babbyย – A fantasy song about a bat that flies out of a cave and goes wild, babby is cockney for baby
โข Magic Flowerย – Feelings & moods
โข Queen of the Gypsiesย – A nightย ย out in San Francisco
โข The Beach –ย An instrumental nightsky, stars, full moon, the sea, the beach, the end of the album
“Illuminate is Magic Wands expanding on what we did on our other albums, and I think itโs the best record weโve made yet. We were still faithful to our original idea of all things โmagic, love and dreamsโ and I think we captured that more than ever on this album. Dexy and I both avoid โrealityโ in โrealityโ as much as possible and we especially do so in our music, and I think this record is a great example of thatโwhether itโs the โnon-studioโ โstudio soundโ that we get or the imaginative lyrics which can border on the surreal,” says Chris Valentine.
“Everything is purposefully hazy and distorted but equally blissful with the sounds. We like the dreamlike quality we have captured, but the songs arenโt background music, they have their definite structures and beats. We also purposefully keep our arrangements very simple, and musically most of the songs only have three or four chords. Overall itโs really an unconventional pop record, and although we use certain 80โs style sounds itโs always with a futuristic angle, we never want to sound like a throwback or anything retro, and we especially donโt try to sound like anything out there today. If weโre inspired by anything itโs all the magical things from the 80s, combined with the 90s song structures that we like combined with our futuristic utopian dreamscape we always aim for. Itโs like a daydream when youโre still aware of whatโs going on around you, but still lost in the reality of your own imagination.”
In the past few years, Magic Wands also released two albums –ย ‘Abrakadabra’ย andย ‘Aloha Moon19’ย – in addition to carrying out two headlining UK and European tours and recording live UK Radio Sessionsย onย Radio X (XFM)ย and onย Steve Lamacq’s BBC Radio 1ย show. The band debuted with theย ‘Aloha Moon’ย LP in 2012, followed byย ‘Jupiter’ย in 2016.
Magic Wands have played live withย Radiohead, Slowdive, The Horrors, The Black Keys, The Jesus and Mary Chain, The Raconteurs, The Breeders,The Wombats, Dinosaur Jr., The Kills, Deerhunter, Mac DeMarco, Sebadoh, Ty Segallย andย The Raconteurs. They have also played many festivals, includingย Lollapaloozaย andย SXSW.
Their music has been remixed byย The XXย andย Crystal Fightersย (Black Magic, #1 in NME) and licensed to over 50 times, including for commercials (including for Gucci, Victoria’s Secret, T-mobile, Ralph Lauren, Paris Fashion Week, Vogue, Gucci and Zara), as well as movies, national television shows (Gossip Girl, Vampire Diaries, Pretty Little Liars, Beauty & the Beast, Funsize, Witches of East End, and The Power of Few with Christopher Walken and Christian Slater).
The Illuminateย album will be released on December 4 digitally with vinyl and CDs to follow in early 2021. It will be available via online platforms, including Spotifyย andย Apple Music, as well as Bandcamp at https://magic-wands.bandcamp.com/album/illuminate-2
Also check out their latest video offerings”
Magic Wands
Illuminate
(Feline Records)
Release Date: December 4, 2020
Artistย Links
Background Photo Credit: Sylvia Leigh
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