Combining entrancing imagery with a unique brand of unconventional pop, Brisbane’s No Magic deliver dazzling visuals with latest clip Stuck By You.
Populated by sounds of dissonance, isolation and confession, No Magic marry Stuck By You‘s sound with the perfect chaotic visuals.
Decorating mellow underground pop with free form psychedelia and abstract sonic ornamentation, No Magic are an ever shifting blend of experimental noise and artistic projects. Initially conceived by frontman Lewis O’Leary (ex-Old Growth Cola) during an overseas sojourn in Montreal, the band’s current line-up comprises of a talented array of Brisbane based artists. Limited only be the group’s creative ambitions No Magic’s live sets frequently incorporate mind-bending visuals, bizarre installations, performance art and self-made instruments.
While seemingly crafting their own musical trajectory, the group’s signature sound belays the inventive experimentation of the Flaming Lips and streaks of the eccentric songcraft of Syd Barrett. Like Barrett’s seminal work with Pink Floyd and later solo material, O’Leary’s creations radiate with meticulously envisioned artistry while paradoxically falling apart at the seams. Replete with all of the jangly rhythms and dissonant synth pitches one could imagine, comes the group’s latest four-track pOtBoUnD + nOrThBoUnD.
Contrasting with the warmer material of the four-track, Stuck By You explores themes of personal isolation after a falling out with close friends. Formed from a lattice of confessional lyricisms and stripped back acoustic rhythms, the track is further decorated with a sonic collage of dissonant and unconventional sounds. Beneath the track’s upbeat instrumentation lurks vulnerable and venomous lyrics. “What you need to think about is everyone that has stuck by you,” levels the track’s frustrated protagonist.
Inspired by filmmaker Oskar Fischinger’s An Optical Poem, Stuck By You’s visuals were produced using a flatbed printer and the painstaking scanning of hundreds of painted artworks. Capturing the frenzied feel of the track, the clip commences with a succession of rapidly evolving images. The recombination of previously introduced images into recognisable patterns serves to create its own ancillary narrative. Entrancing yet claustrophobic, the visuals imbue the track with additional layers of meaning.
“I think there’s a scattered history of people who wrote songs, performed songs and made their own music videos,” reflects frontman O’Leary. “Brisbane has a great history of DIY music videos too. 80s acts Tangled Shoelaces and Wondrous Fair are both big influences on No Magic and their videos were made by members of the band. To me they seemed way ahead of their time” he adds.
Ramshackle yet immaculately complex, the endearingly personal Stuck By You embodies the madcap creativity which underscores No Magic’s music.
The group’s pOtBoUnD + nOrThBoUnD currently available via Melbourne label Alberts Basement.
