When my editor gave me this band to write about my first thought was a mix of Hendrix guitar riffs, dirty jokes and Betty Crocker (about food, food, I swear). I was determined to decide for myself what was so magic and mystical about the band that I had been given and then I heard Limousine, their new teaser track off the soon to-be-released Let Me Hold You While You Fail. Shaky, and driven by a pulsing beat, Limousine is a song for Insomnia, slow dancing and those long drives that lead you slowly into an empty landscape of nothingness.
Magic Hands will make you forget all your troubles in a haze of nostalgia. Or, remember all your past problems in a haze of nostalgia. Either way, it’s cool.
Magic Hands are your typical synth / electro pop band, accenting the second and fourth beats, distorting lead vocals, and adding quirky, ethereal samples, misty and trance-like. Emerging from Melbourne early 2013, the band focuses their sound effectively but narrowly upon the beat, which pulsates in sharp movements like a dying heart, beating its last happy rhythm. The voices of Alex and Lucy compliment each other blending high and low, warm and mellow, breathy and resonate.
Their sound is what I imagine listening to on the radio through a slow-motion bus ride, reflecting on life. Or as a subtle backing as I look briefly over blurry photographs, piecing together the remnants of my past. Although, relatively simple their music inspires a deeper insight and quiets the mind, allowing it to focus on one thing at a time.
Magic Hands define themselves under the dream genre, and after hearing every single track on their band camp, I think I’m qualified to agree. They have this hazy, sublime sound that is almost like creeping footsteps, or speaking in an infinite whisper. For something mellow, airy and sleepy, check out their band camp and wait patiently for their album to be released on the 12th of October.
Let Me Hold You While You Fail will be launched live at Melbourne’s The Gasometer on Saturday September 20.
FIND OUT MORE ON
▲ FACEBOOK ▲ BANDCAMP
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