Synth-rock band Magnetic Skies’ debut EP, “Dreams And Memories”, is released on 22 March 2019 via ReprinT Records. Today XS Noize are pleased to premiere ‘Believe In You’ from the EP.
‘Believe In You’ is a tribute to Talk Talk. Magnetic Skies are heavily influenced by the band and It was mixed with Talk Talk’s producer Phill Brown. Simon Kent of Magnetic Skies had this to say about the influence of Mark Hollis’s music:
“Talk Talk were a massive influence on me as a songwriter. They were a great pop band and made the transition to being a great art rock band. There was an extended period of time where I was so lost in their music that I listened to next to nothing else. So much so that I wrote Believe In You as a sort of tribute to the band, using the title of my favourite Talk Talk track I Believe In You as the starting point. Mark Hollis conveyed so much emotion in his vocals, and I tried to capture some of that in the track. I was also lucky enough to mix the track with Phill Brown, who was the sound engineer on Talk Talk’s final two albums (Spirit Of Eden and Laughing Stock) and who also engineered Mark’s solo album.”
Listen to the exclusive XS Noize premiere of ‘Believe In You’ – BELOW:
Magnetic Skies formed in early 2018 when singer-songwriter Simon Kent and vocalist/programmer Jo Womar were commissioned to collaborate for a one-off arts/charity live show. During rehearsals, the pair discovered that they had a common love for electronic music and mapped out dates to experiment with writing songs for a potential band project. Simon’s latest solo album had received airplay on national radio, and live shows included touring with established artists like Echo & The Bunnymen, Emma Stevens and The Christians – but things went so well that he decided to take a hiatus to concentrate on the new project.
Simon says, “the Magnetic Skies songs took on a life and direction of their own, everything just flowed. Although I had a great band and backing at radio, sometimes you just have to follow your instinct and your heart. And this is where my heart wants me to go.”
Songwriting over the summer resulted in a selection of songs ranging from melody-driven electronic pop to atmospheric ambient songs which form the basis of 3 EPs the band will release in 2019, with a full-length album to follow. Jo says, “writing the songs has been a really exciting adventure! I have a really cool collection of analogue and digital synthesizers, which are the foundation for the tracks. Simon can play a bit of everything, so he was able to contribute keys, guitars and bass to finish everything off.”.
Seconds into your first listen, you know that they are supremely well-schooled in the history of cutting-edge pop and modern rock but are also the very band to give it a sense of tomorrow. “Dreams And Memories” was the first song the duo wrote together – exploring nostalgia and nodding musically to Disintegration-era Cure; “Magnetic Skies” is the band’s newest track – a song about seizing life’s chances weaved around an inviting repeated sequencer line; The irresistibly hook-laden “I Am Your Friend”, is all pulsating synths; while closing track “Believe In You” is a piano-led, electronic, intimate ambient soundscape.
The 4 tracks were engineered by Rob Aubrey, admired for his work with Big Big Train, and mixed by the band with Phill Brown, legendary engineer for Talk Talk, Bob Marley and Zero 7 among many others. They helped finesse the ambience, but the big, soaring melodies and inspirational, finely-tuned songs are all Magnetic Skies.
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