Magnus Martin boldly goes where no hippy dares to go with his first full-blown solo album.
Magnus plays in Tarantism, the celtic-dub-diddly-punk-rave festival outfit. He also plays space rock with Hawkwind. And of course there is the Tarantism Acoustic Disco – who play dance-floor classics in a folky style. Three bands with three very different styles. Now you can add this solo project – which is a very different style again – not to mention a unique and original sound. In fact, you can go even further than that and say each track on this album has a style all of its own.
Magnus is an accomplished multi-instrumentalist that annoyingly seems to be able to turn his hand to any instrument he picks up (or sits in front of). He joined Hawkwind as a keyboard player and now he plays guitar with them. With the Disco set up, he plays guitar and drums at the same bloody time. And he sings. He never ceases to impress. And if you have all that in your flight case, why would you want to restrict yourself to one style of music?
No doubt he could have put the entire album together on his own if he was so inclined, but over the course of these twelve tracks all of his band mates from the current lineups of Hawkwind and Tarantism drop in to make a contribution.
The album opens with the title track, ‘Everything is Singing to Me’, for which he is joined by long-time soul mate and musical partner, Mel Rogers on vocals. “The seas hum, there are choirs in waterfalls, the wind whispers in my ears”, which might explain why he seems to be constantly coming up with new ideas. It starts with an understated guitar riff, with a brass section underneath Magnus’s passionate vocals, before we get the first of many guitar solos.
‘Hiraeth’ is a Welsh word with no direct translation in any other language. It means a deep longing for home. Given Mel and Magnus currently call the costal town of Tenby their home, we know what they mean. It’s an interesting tune, both chilled and funky and acoustic and electronic all at the same time.
Track three, ‘Sleep my Daughter’ is short but incredibly sweet. One minute forty seven seconds of a thoughtful, classical Spanish guitar solo.
For one of the most DIY bands out there, the production is incredibly crisp and clean. No doubt the result of many hours perfecting all aspects of producing music – and a little bit of help from Magnus Jr, aka Silas, who has followed the family tradition of spending hours perfecting the creation of music.
Track five is a nine minute long instrumental reprise of the title track. We challenge you to not lose yourself in the blissed out dreamscape the tune creates. It has a solid laid back rhythm with a guitar solo laid over the top that manages to be impressive without a hint of pretentiousness. I hate comparing bands to other artists, but I have to say it has a Dave Gilmore vibe for me.
It is followed by ‘Flo-me-la’ which has a West African vibe with a funky bass line giving it an afro-celtic fusion feel – but again with a psychedelic rock guitar over the top. If I had to pick one, I think this would be the highlight of the album for me.
Then the tempo changes completely with Magnus sitting behind the piano to lay down a short but sweet downtempo composition in the shape of ‘First Light’ which then melts into ‘Storm Brewing’, a mellow jazz number, which just left this listener wondering if there is anywhere this album will not go. Storm Brewing, incidentally, is also the name of the band that Magnus has put together to tour the album live.
Not only does each track take you in a different direction from the last, in many cases tracks start out in one place, go off in a different direction and end up somewhere else. Mel kicks Magnus out of the way on track nine, taking over on lead vocals for ‘Shipwreck’. A nautical themed tune. You start out thinking it is a bit folky, all be it with an electric undercurrent, then by the end it has quite a heavy spacey instrumental vibe to it and if you haven’t been paying attention you have to check it is the same song – in my case I was about to restart it to check, then Mel comes back to end the tune as she started it.
‘Metaschimatismos’ (Greek for ‘transformation’) falls into the category of what used to be called ‘ambient house’ and would have been perfect in the chill out room of the old Club Dog.
‘Ceyx and Alcyone’ is an innocent enough laid back piano instrumental ending to the album. Till you Google ‘Ceyx and Alcyone’ and learn that they were Greek lovers who pissed off the gods and got turned into kingfishers. So not only does this album entertain, it also informs and educates. Very Reithian.
In short, if you are familiar with Magnus’ previous work, don’t expect this album to sound anything like his other bands. Don’t expect any two songs to sound like any of the others. And to keep the theme going, if you go to see the live version, Storm Brewing, don’t expect them to sound like this album – they focus more on the livelier funky end of the spectrum, Basically, expect the unexpected.
After all these words, if you’re not sure if the album is any good – for the avoidance of doubt – it is fucking brilliant.
Get in on ye olde Bandcamp – Everything is Singing to me | Magnus Martin