Can The Magic Numbers sustain the levels reached by their debut?

The Magic Numbers return with their second album, following 2005’s self-titled debut.  Let’s make no bones about it - that album is a fantastic piece of work, full of bittersweet, bright and breezy songs, lush harmonies and immaculate musicianship.  Initially dismissed as overlong, the album did take time to seep into your head but once it did it was lodged there permanently.  The band’s power as a live group has grown over a significant touring schedule, which has reinforced their slow-burning sales and popularity.  The question is, as with all follow-ups to successful debuts, whether the band can sustain the quality.  Can these new songs match and improve upon the debut?  Or was this album rushed out for the Christmas market under the duress of a record company keen to cash in on previous sales?

In general, Those The Brokes is similar in tone and content to the Magic Numbers’ debut, with the songs being about human relationships and love, loss and longing in particular.  First single Take A Chance sounds like an outtake from the first album and is the most obvious single.

But what did we expect?  It was always unlikely that The Magic Numbers were going to go off at an artistic tangent.  There was little indication on their debut of a desire for sonic experimentation and neither was there a wide range of themes covered in the songs which could serve as a starting point for a lyrical exploration.  Sometimes we demand too much of bands; this is only their second album after all, and The Beatles didn’t go from Love Me Do to Strawberry Fields Forever in 18 months.  The Magic Numbers are just learning to write and record under pressure (to produce a follow up) which is different to the freer conditions under which the first album was created.  But there is enough on Those The Brokes to suggest that the band are developing their sound.  And they are certainly good enough songwriters and musicians (as anyone who has seen them live will testify) to create something truly outstanding in the future.

These musical developments include string backing (arranged by Robert Kirby of Nick Drake fame) on Boy and Take Me Or Leave Me.  The former features an orchestral break; the latter was written and sung by Michele Stodart and features only acoustic guitar and strings, with just the merest hint of bass and drums until the closing bars.  Undecided is sung by Angela Gannon, though with plenty of support from Romeo Stodart on the chorus and middle eight, and also features a brass section.

Despite being thirteen tracks and over an hour long the album doesn’t drag, each song being carefully constructed.  Opener This Is A Song features a breakdown, with layered harmonies building to a climax similar to that so successfully produced on Love Me Like You from the debut album.  There is a time change that kicks Most Of The Time along.  Runnin’ Out is a band composition possibly jammed out in soundcheck.  Goodnight, a country strum-along featuring violin, harp and melodica, provides an epic finale.  This all suggests a well thought out album.  The fact that a number of the songs were previewed on their early 2006 tours indicates that they have been working on them for a while and the benefits of this time and care are reaped on the album.

As with their debut album, Those The Brokes is self produced and there is evidently enough confidence in the songs not to trim or ‘pop’ them up as a producer might do in order to boost sales.  There are some long tracks but when they’re this beautiful who cares?  The listener should make time to luxuriate in them.  The songs are often quiet too, so you need to turn off other distractions.  This is an album you have to give time to, but you will be rewarded for that effort. 

The only complaint is that Romeo’s guitar is slightly underplayed.  Live, his instrument is the ferocious focal point of the band, but here it’s often well down in the mix.  It would be nice to hear it turned up a bit as he is clearly very talented - for further evidence, witness his guitar work on the cover of Neil Young’s Cowgirl In The Sand on the Take A Chance DVD single.

In these fast-moving times, where it often feels like we barely have time to digest the current thing before moving on to the next, it’s nice to have an album that requires some devotion and will reward the time spent with it.  In the days when people bought only a few albums a year or owned only a few records, that devotion and time was taken for granted.  It’s nice to slow down and enjoy well made music like this.

If you enjoyed their debut then you will find much to enjoy in this album.  It will be interesting to see if they can push things further and create a real masterpiece within the next couple of records.

Release date: 06/11/06
Artist website: www.themagicnumbers.net
Label: Heavenly

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