Here We Go Magic
A Different Ship
(Secretly Canadian)

Just two years after releasing Pigeons, Brooklyn-based Here We Go Magic return with A Different Ship just in time for summer. The band’s dreamy psychedelic tones have been trimmed back just enough to allow sunny tones to shine. A Different Ship is clearer, brighter, and the sound of a band ready to make the jump into the major leagues.

“Hard to Be Close” begins folksy and stripped back, but it soon careers into melodic madness. “Alone But Moving” sounds like a classic indie song from someone like The New Pornographers’ frontman A.C. Newman, but 80’s style keyboards splash in to keep things melodic.

“I Believe in Action” features brilliant harmonization and a clever combination of guitar rock with electro beats, while “Over the Ocean” sprawls on to show the band’s power even with delicate, simplistic material. But this group doesn’t shy away from the catchy either, as demonstrated by “Made to Be Old,” which features delivery straight out of the Lou Reed handbook.

Each song on A Different Ship has something different to offer, but as a whole record, it’s consistent with breathy vocals, swirling keyboards, and tight work that makes every instrument count rather than getting lost in distorted noise. This is already one of my top albums of the year, and it would take quite some effort to knock it from my Top 10 by December.