Magnetic Skies - Fragments

Review by Karl Magi

Overall Album Impressions

Magnetic Skies’ “Fragments” is a journey through all of the intense complexity of human existence with a musical heart full of melancholy passion. Anchored by Simon Kent's vocals, each song blossoms through the full richness and pain of experiencing emotion and life. The band backs it all with expression and sonic depth that only increases the ability of the music to touch the heart. When one adds the immediacy of live performances, the music grows deeper still and becomes even more able to harness emotion and drive it home.

There’s no doubt about Simon Kent as the engine of this band. His vocal range allows for piercing pain and tender caressing while he embodies a new wave sensibility in his sound. Each track's lyrical centre is reached by his voice, transforming the words into pure sensation while he enchants the listener with his expression. I enjoy the way in which he reaches to find the defining characteristics of the songs and conveys them to me with clarity and feeling.

Songwriting is another strong feature of “Fragments.” The songs are full of ambiguities and moments of confusion and loss, leavened by passion and affection. The way in which the words can stab when they caressed moments before reflects the volatility of emotions, and the ability of the words to propel only adds to the impact of each lyric. All of the music around the words only helps to define them and shape the meaning of the songs.

All of the band members weave a beautifully nuanced tapestry of sound on Fragments . Jo Womar and Simon Kent’s synths intermingle to create layers of different tones suited to each song’s unique qualities. Lenin Alegria’s drumming is full of energy as it sits at the heart of the music, providing a solid underpinning. When one adds Simon Kent's guitar, which calls out to press home the emotional qualities of the music, the end result is a layered production full of gripping feeling.

My Favourite Songs Analyzed

“No End” begins with distant vibrating notes and a synth which drifts with enigmatic energy above the undulating foundation. A steadily flashing note pattern repeats hypnotically as the underpinnings slowly throb and the drum beat echoes into the vastness around it. Sounds sweep like a cosmic wind through the track as the peaceful notes take on a warming quality and trickling sounds move along with the synthesizer as it drifts and the track ends.

A rapidly trembling synth moves with bright string sounds and Lenin Alegria’s popping drums as “Back to Life” starts. The strings have a delicate shine to them as Simon Kent's dramatic voice carries the compelling melody as the drums burst.

In the distance, light shines while Simon Kent's voice climbs with fragile expression and the guitar intertwines with flashing energy. The low end continues to press on as Simon Kent draws me in with his emotionally engaging voice. As the chorus rises, sparkling brilliance pours from Jo Womar’s skipping synth as the bass undulates and the drums batter.

Simon Kent's guitar slashes with triumphant and ferocious energy, shining out while the low end charges. Haunting, swirling notes shiver along with a rapidly trembling synth before the vocals rise with expressive dynamism again. The glistening strings intermingle with the explosive drums and Simon Kent's intense voice. The drums punch hard as the low end charges before silence falls.

Our storyteller says that he can "feel the void, hear the noise (and) see it all." He sees everything falling while "shadows play as the pictures fade" on another day in a different way. He adds, "bring it back to life."

The narrator states that we are "made of stars, we are meteor showers" as we lose control and "empty out the soul in the calm before the storm." He asks where the hero is and concludes that "hungry ghosts without form turn to zero."

“Closing In” opens as a sharp-angled synth cuts while the underlayer moves with an exploding beat. Simon Kent's vocals shiver with darkness and loss, while the melody glides with ghostly emptiness and Lenin Alegria propels the music. The guitar strums along with a synth that flows with melancholy mystery. Simon Kent's voice is full of New Wave shadow, while the synth player expresses the song’s tragic core.

The smooth tones shift with a yearning and broken melody as they intertwine in string-like waves. I feel myself tumble headlong into the song’s emotional tenor while the percussion drifts away. A buzzing sound moves with luminous notes, the drums drive the track, the guitar slices with moving feeling and the second singer adds her voice for support while the foundational pattern fades away.

“You force my hand to make a stand,” as dark emotions close in. The narrator falls into line because he knows the signs that the shadows are closing in, “throwing me up against the wall.” He calls to bring the guns and “unwind the coil,” because “your silent weapons say it all and it’s closing in again.”

As the depression grows, our storyteller feels the heat underneath his feet and begins “inhaling fear as it’s moving near.” He speaks of empty hopes and fears with “endless skies and flowing tears.” As waves break on the shore, the shadows close in again and the narrator concludes by saying, “Arm me with light now.”

Lenin Alegria's propulsive drums move with entangling electric bass and a synth that slides with velvety grace to start “Your Shadow.” Simon Kent's voice echoes with ghostly melancholy, carrying the lonely melody above the rhythmic support below. The vocals are tenuous and full of hurt as the beat rebounds, locked in with the electric bass.

In the chorus, Simon Kent's performance burns with agony and need, capturing me with its immediacy. As the drums splash with wide sound, a synth like a string section carries the heartache-filled melody and vibrating notes shift slowly. The vocals rise with pure expression, shattering against the music with fragility and vulnerability.

The synth yearns and blazes with feeling as Simon Kent takes hold of the words and brings them into being with his sensitive voice. The tremulous underlayer shifts as the reverberant vocals float and slide into quiet with the drumbeat.

“Pretty lights hide the vacuum,” and the storyteller knows the city lied to him, but he’s still “seduced by the poetry.” What was promised to him by the song’s subject is being tread on and “I see a lie in the song that you’re singing now, an alibi coming on and you’re clinging on.” He adds, “Let it burn.”

Our narrator’s advice is to “turn away when it hits,” although he knows the other person wants to see the fire lit and “all the bonds that you break.” He points out that he can see through it all, so let it burn. He concludes by saying, “Your shadow’s alive, you’re trying to drive it home.”

“Slow Motion” comes to life as an urgently lacerating pulse becomes a steady heartbeat before the gently effulgent melody hovers, carried on a lightly touching synth. The rhythm becomes an insistent vibration as Simon Kent's voice unfurls with an ethereal, pain-filled feeling. The melody he expresses only deepens the emotional rawness. The bottom layer creates mechanistic, angular motion in contrast to the misty trail of the vocals, tracing through the music with damaged emotion.

The level of expression captures me as Simon Kent delivers his performance. The drummer continues the unrelenting propulsion which underpins the vocals that slip past like aching memory. The chorus climbs with a brighter sensation but still embodies a bereft feeling as it floats. Effulgence spills from the elevated tones as they swirl together into a glittering background and the song carries all of its shattering emotion onward.

Sharp-edged guitar leaps into the music with a broken, drifting pattern while the percussion continues to drive hard. As the guitar drops away, the vocalist leaves his voice hanging with fragility above the rhythmic pulse before the song swells again and ends with all of the sonic elements bursting into flame.

As the sun takes over, “you walk in like a dream,” and our narrator feels the adrenaline rush. He’s in a foreign land and he’s never coming back, as life feels like it’s moving in slow motion. The song’s subject takes him “out on a limb,” but he feels no suffering as “nothing matters here, I’ll follow you all night.”

Whisper-soft sounds levitate before hugely slicing synth trembles and Lenin Alegria plays a steady beat to commence “The Light In You.” Simon Kent's voice is full of trembling passion as the driving rhythm moves with a cutting synth glittering with sharp-edged power. Strings carry a meditatively melancholy tonal pattern, wrapping around the music with painful expression.

Simon Kent captures the need and intensity within the lyrics. I enjoy the piercing strength of the performance while the striding beat drives on. The string section slides again with agonizing tenderness while the heaving underpinnings agitate. Gritty sounds shiver as the vocals move with mournful sensations and the guitar contributes shivering emotion before Lenin Alegria adds more forceful motion. Once again the strings intertwine with gentleness and the pain of loss before the song closes.

The song’s subject isn't holding anything back and is “losing all control” as their anger grows. The storyteller tells them to “push the hope aside,” because there’s nothing left to say. The other person is feeling “broken and turning inside out” as the words are spoken.

“Crawling on the floor and it burns like fire,” but the narrator reassures the song's subject that they don't have to be afraid because “there’s a strength inside you here.” He kisses their lips and hands, going on to say, “There’s a limit to the power, no need for words, no need for sound.”

To conclude, the storyteller says, “When it all comes through, I see the light in you.”

“Fire Escape” opens as digitally vibrating sounds echo while the string section rises with meditative radiance. Simon Kent's moving voice encapsulates emotional complexity while the crisp drum beat adds rhythmic energy. The vocals reflect all of the yearning within the words, Simon Kent’s voice taking hold of my soul.

As the widely oscillating tones rebound, the words are captured by the trembling vocals as Lenin Alegria’s drum rhythm snaps sharply. The guitar silvers the music in moonlight while the vocals delve deep into emotional richness. As the bouncing notes roam, Simon Kent delivers his performance with conviction and depth while the strings continue to move lyrically. Underneath, the foundational tones wander and the drums add motion before the track comes to an end.

Although he knows he shouldn’t talk to or dream of the song’s subject, our narrator finds himself holding his breath, “suspended in air, watching as the world fades, looking for a sign or a fire escape.” As he falls in “like a satellite,” he hasn't got an alibi. He concludes, “No way, it's not reality, it's not a destiny.”

Metallic tones drift past with a mournful cry to commence “She Calls Me On.” The trembling notes layer one on the other with spectral pain as the tranquil, heavy bass rumbles below. The guitar strums as strings move in a slowly slipping line, broken-hearted as the piano carries a gentler, more soothing melody.

Simon Kent's voice is hushed and caressing, carrying the lyrics with deep pain as the rhythm continues to slowly guide. The guitar adds a sharper edge to the drifting background while the vocals stab into my heart. The synth glistens, washing me in floating luminosity as the piano brushes with affection and bereft emotion.

Simon Kent sets his voice free to express all of the complexity and yearning within the lyrics. In the distance, levitating tones create a filigree. The string-like synth moves with trailing, misty elegance while the piano melody flickers with tentative emotion.

The guitar shines with expression, carrying a more hurting melody above the gliding underlayer as Jo Womar adds her own expressive voice, deepening the sensations of the music. The guitar slices with meditative feeling as the piano again slides through the music with dreamy mournfulness before the song ends.

To begin with, the storyteller says, “I can't hide my eyes, I am held in amber,” and he doesn't know what to say. As the song's subject breaks the quiet, “it falls away and it’s a sign,” so they run. He feels the other person more with each breath as “I feel your every move and I'm not alone, let it rain.”

With something floating in the air, “I watch the doubt surrender.” The narrator realizes that he hasn't got any control and “I'm lost to chance forever.” It’s just an illusion and he wants the song’s subject to pull him in as they “dive and swim.” He can feel the puppet strings, “winter into spring,” and he’s still not alone. He concludes that “she calls me on.”

Conclusion

“Back To Life” transports me on a journey that touches all of the pain and complexity at the heart of human emotion. The band embodies all of the contradictions and exquisite melancholy of what it means to feel and experience life as their music unfolds.

Synth Single Review: “Mortirolo” by The Last Concorde

by Karl Magi

The Last Concorde’s “Mortirolo” erupts with dynamic energy and playful sensations. The track begins as announcements from a bike race are joined by a brilliant synth that drives like powerful legs propelling pedals. The disco beat captures the era while surging tones glow like summer light. A hollow, ringing synth adds a frolicking feeling, playful and dynamic, carrying a melody that captures all of the thrill and speed of the peloton’s charge.

As the track evolves, images of churning motion and straining muscles are joined by victorious and celebratory emotion. I can picture the riders coming out of their saddles to climb a mountain. As wild laughter rings out, chopped-up percussion bounces between fragments of vocal sound that skip and scatter.

The pumping disco rhythm evokes all of the riders charging through the mountains while the dancing synth line sings with abandon. Broken sounds echo as the huge rhythmic underpinnings surge and the silky-smooth synth wriggles with liberated fun while the track moves on. All of the musical elements exude barely contained exuberance as the smoothly gliding notes slip past.

Synth EP Review: “Dreamshore” by CODE 89

by Karl Magi

CODE 89’s “Dreamshore” paints a series of vivid synthscapes with complex tones intermingling to create peaceful contemplation, delicate drifting and movement through tranquil waters. The music is a journey that sweeps me up and carries me away.

“Arrival” opens with a gently echoing tonal pulse and wind sweeps along with undulating bass to weave a strong underpinning. The varied percussion ticks while the drums snap cleanly and a slowly trembling synth floats with a sense of detached smoothness. The rhythm adds guidance while shimmering notes evoke the light of a faraway galaxy and the richness below rolls through.

Razor-sharp tones cut into the music while the glimmering synth casts its cosmic rays through the soundscape. As the luscious bass rumbles, the percussive rhythm adds dynamism. Soothing vocal sounds move into the music, cut into by the percussion, while I flow along with the solar wind. The lead synth reaches out with soothing elegance to touch my ears and the tumbling underlayer creates a sense of deep space. The drums drop away as the track fades into quiet.

A rising bass tide moves with an undulating synth that glistens like a bioluminescent ocean to start “On The Sea”. Bright notes dance before the rhythm launches with confident motion, like a boat borne on a fresh wind. The main melody is carried on a brilliantly bending synth, washing out with encouragement and effervescent lightness.

As the propulsive underpinnings move forward, the drums collide and fade. Fragile arpeggios hang like sunlit mist above the deep currents below, breaking and trembling. A sense of new horizons and exciting voyages permeates me while the underlayer drives with unstoppable motion.

Arpeggiating notes shine like sunlight on whitecaps as the main melody returns again, capturing memory and excitement with its scintillating luminosity. The lead synth exudes free-flowing excitement as the track closes out.

“105 Meters” Begins with becalmed tones above a slowly oscillating underlayer. The background shifts like a diver slowly sinking below blue waters, effervescent sounds sparkling like bubbles rising. The percussive heartbeat is full of oceanic strength as it flows and the background sounds gleam like undersea sunlight.

A delicate melody brushes like seaweed tendrils while the music carries me along on its lithe flow. I feel transported and relaxed as the distantly shining notes flash like tiny fish in quicksilver motion. Echoing vocal sounds float as the rhythm continues to guide the music. Fragile notes dance like sunbeams filtering through water while the heavy underpinnings shift. Chimes flicker like more bubbles rising before silence falls.

Smoothly throbbing drums move with a steady rhythm while cerulean tones drift above dense bass to kick off “Deep Dance”. The percussion slips as a whispering voice exhales while the synth moves like warm water through a tropical bay. Crackling sounds roam through the expansive soundscape, the drums adding form while notes rise and fall like divers in a water column, obeying a gentle tidal pull.

I imagine diffuse light filtering down through the depths as I move weightlessly, forever floating. Gigantic foundations rumble while a digital-sounding synth oscillates and whispering vocals slide with gauzy softness. There’s an appealing contrast between crushing weight and free-floating energy while piano notes twinkle with aquamarine elegance. The rhythmic underpinnings press on while the hollow-sounding synth broadcasts a shadowy tone before the track exhales with tranquility.

“Moon” commences with vaguely ominous, circling tones and a heavily undulating low end heartbeat. A kick drum adds a slow thud while the synth shifts with cosmic distance, moving above the heavy bass. Metallic notes glitter like a canopy of stars while the synth flows as though freed from gravity, and the rhythm accelerates into a propulsive charge.

Ethereal chord changes hover above the tripping beat as urgency increases. After a momentary pause, the drumbeat returns with a half-speed pulse while tones illuminate the darkness around them like far-off planets. I feel myself carried through the universe in a mixture of peaceful meditation and shadowed emotion. As the track ends, wobbling sounds glide past like distant comets and the beat rushes forward until silence finally falls.

Synth Single Review: “Closer” by Drew Knight & Aisle 9

by Karl Magi

Drew Knight & Aisle 9’s “Closer” is a meditation on love and desire. The song starts as gargantuan bass vibrates and swells while smoothly rebounding drums move with Drew Knight’s deep velvet voice as it carries the mysterious melody.

As the background flows with tenderness, a percussive pulse shapes the music and Drew Knight captures the lyrics with fervent desire. The rich vocals carry the song’s sentiment with ardent strength, compelling me as they do so. The beat continues to surge powerfully while the bass adds additional propulsion.

Aisle 9 creates a beautiful background that glides in coruscating whorls as arpeggios twirl and the vocals float. A reverberant synth throbs as the rhythm thuds and choral voices ring while the arpeggios move with lissome ease, and the song comes to an end as radiant brightness spills out into silence.

Our storyteller feels that he’s still in time, so he’ll just let it pass because “it feels too good to be mine, like you could disappear tonight.” He says that “if this is all we get, I don’t want to second guess” or look back, so he asks the song’s subject to save their breath.

“We don’t want tonight to end,” so the narrator wants the song’s subject to pull him in closer. He doesn’t want to let them go, but instead wants to “get closer, closer, closer.” He doesn’t trust forever, so he’ll “take what I can get right now.” He doesn’t want to lose control of “something I never had.”