Sympathetic Magic is the fifth studio album by American indie rock band Typhoon. Recorded in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, it was released without any prior announcements on January 22, 2021.[1] This was the third studio album released under the Roll Call Records label.[2]
| Sympathetic Magic | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | January 22, 2021 | |||
| Length | 39:27 | |||
| Label | Roll Call Records | |||
| Typhoon chronology | ||||
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Background
editOn October 29, 2020, six days before the 2020 United States presidential election Typhoon released the single "Welcome To The Endgame" with a corresponding music video directed by Danielle Sullivan.[3]
The album was released without any prior announcements or marketing on all streaming platforms on January 22, 2021, with physical copy pre-orders being available on Bandcamp.[4] In the album announcement, Kyle Morton describes the album as:[5]
Small news in the big scheme, but we finished a record and I wanted to share it with you. I wrote all these songs while puttering around the house these past several months, because, what else was I going to do? The songs are about people - the space between them and the ordinary, miraculous things that happen there, as we come into contact, imitate each other, leave our marks, lose touch. Being self and other somehow amounting to the same thing. Recording had to be adapted to the plague-times. I tracked the demos first and sent them out to the band. Then the improvised procession of friends dropping by my basement, one at a time, masks on. Other folks recorded their parts in their own homes with cell phone voice memos or GarageBand in the laundry room. Parts from the original demos remain intact. Like everything right now, it was... more.
Critical reception
editThe album was well regarded by NPR Music, The Current, and Paste magazine, with the latter saying "Sympathetic Magic appeals to both our desire for heartwarming, acutely detailed scenes and the untangling of complex emotions that can nag at a person"[6] and NPR's Robin Hilton saying "…it’d be easy for music as conceptual as this, and as driven by big ideas as this music is, to take itself [too] seriously, and it never does. It’s always just pitch perfect”.[7] Atwood Magazine praised the album for its production, arrangement, and memorability.[8]
Track listing
editAll tracks are written by Kyle Morton
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Sine Qua Nonentity" | 2:48 |
| 2. | "Empire Builder" | 4:14 |
| 3. | "Motion and Thought" | 3:08 |
| 4. | "Santos" | 0:29 |
| 5. | "We're In It" | 4:36 |
| 6. | "Two Birds" | 3:03 |
| 7. | "Evil Vibes" | 2:47 |
| 8. | "And So What If You Were Right" | 3:58 |
| 9. | "Time, Time" | 2:56 |
| 10. | "Room Within The Room" | 4:04 |
| 11. | "Masochist Ball" | 3:19 |
| 12. | "Welcome to the Endgame" | 4:05 |
| Total length: | 39:27 | |
Personnel
editMusicians
edit- Kyle Morton – vocals, guitar
- Shannon Steele – violin, vocals
- Alex Fitch – drums, percussion
- Devin Gallagher – kalimba, ukelele, glockenspiel, percussion
- Toby Tanabe – bass
- Dave Hall – guitar
- Eric Stipe – trumpet, vocals
- Pieter Hilton – drums, percussion, vocals
- Ben Morton – guitar
- Tyler Ferrin
Technical
edit- Produced by Kyle Morton
- Mastering by Adam Gonsalves
- Mixed by Jeff Stuart Saltzman
References
edit- ^ "Typhoon Surprise Release New Album Sympathetic Magic". pastemagazine.com. 2021-01-21. Retrieved 2021-01-26.
- ^ "Typhoon – Sympathetic Magic". Roll Call Records. Retrieved 2021-02-19.
- ^ "LISTEN: Typhoon Creates Ravishing Soundscapes Via "Welcome to the Endgame"". glidemagazine.com. Retrieved 2021-01-26.
- ^ "Sympathetic Magic, by TYPHOON". TYPHOON. Retrieved 2021-01-26.
- ^ "Typhoon / News / Sympathetic Magic". wearetyphoon.com. Retrieved 2021-01-26.
- ^ "7 New Albums to Stream Today". pastemagazine.com. 2021-01-21. Retrieved 2021-02-19.
- ^ "New Music Friday: The Top 8 Albums Out On Jan. 22 : All Songs Considered". NPR.org. Retrieved 2021-02-19.
- ^ Vargas, Adrian (2021-01-25). "Our Take: A Sonically Rich & Sincere Retrospection with Typhoon's 'Sympathetic Magic'". Atwood Magazine. Retrieved 2021-02-19.