As it’s eight years since Daniel Todd and James Smith released their last album, the title of their second offering as Exmagician checks out. The Belfast duo were previously known as members of the brilliant and now defunct Cashier No 9 – painfully underrated in their day – but this record may well be the best thing that the lifelong friends have done.
Finding themselves with neither a manager nor a label after the release of Scan the Blue (on Bella Union, in 2016), the duo sat tight, gathered together a fine collection of songs and took their time shaping and polishing them to a meticulous standard. By their own admission, Exmagician is a studio project rather than a band, which means that these nine songs are packed with ideas and layered with quirky effects that are probably not easily produced in a live setting.
That matters not a jot: the result is a track list balanced beautifully with dreamy harmonies, 1960s psych-pop, oddball twists, unexpected parps of woodwind, jangly guitar, sleek string samples and shimmering songcraft influenced by acts such as The Beta Band, Beck and Cornelius.
Both songwriters bring something unique to the table, yet while Todd and Smith clearly sing from the same hymn sheet, the subtle differences in their approaches keep things interesting, such as the timeless jangle-pop of Dullard providing a striking counterpart to the slouchy slo-mo echo of Storyline, or the chic, string-laden 1970s lounge-influenced Pistol, which sounds like The Divine Comedy meets The Beach Boys.
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Lyrics inspired by “vague social commentary mixed with some internal pep talk” drift in and out of these songs; on the album’s closing track, Coast, Todd pays tribute to his “port through the storm”.
It is the music that offers more with every listen to this rich patchwork quilt of songs assembled with care and experience. Proof that good things come to those who wait, this is one of the most satisfying and intricately crafted albums you’ll hear this year.
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