Somewhere between blissprog, ethereal folk melodicism and cult-adjacent mystique, Magick Brother & Mystic Sister offer the first of a two-installment cycle of releases in the form of Tarot Pt. 1 (review here). Issued through Sound Effect Records, the subtly ambitious and sprawling 11-song outing follows the Barcelona group’s 2020 self-titled debut (discussed here) and leads off with the welcoming spirit of its longest track (immediate points) in “The Fool.” And while the opener doesn’t necessarily account for everything that happens arrangement-wise as the album unfolds, whether it’s the lush vocals of “The High Priestess,” the sitar drone flourish at the start of “The Empress,” the cinematic mellotron-and-maybe-xylophone drama of “The Lover,” or the flute-inclusive jazzy swing behind the later “The Justice,” it is a gateway through which one passes en route to that righteous succession.

Patient from its initial fade-in onward, “The Fool” is perhaps intended as a whole-record intro, or just wound up fitting as one when it was finished, I don’t know, but it works in that spot regardless. The first minute, before the drums arrive, builds up around a soft keyboard line, and it’s not so long before the gentle vocals begin the first verse, but by the time they do, offset by washes of synth and effects-guitar contemplations, clarity through strikes of keyboard/piano, the feeling is both traditionalist and futuristic, hopeful with an edge of melancholy. I know precious little about the tarot, but the cosmic-feeling vibe of lyrics like “I have no land/I have a star” is well accounted for in the surrounding krautrock-and-classic-prog instrumental movement, leaning into the psychedelic with some backwards looping and mostly-mindful drift before easing through the last bits of soloing and final drone. On the album — which you can stream below — “The Magician” tops that wind with an urgency of chimes soon answered by lead electric guitar, but maybe that’s something best left for you to discover on your own.

I don’t have a release date for Tarot Pt. 2, but even in telling only half the sonic story they ultimately will, Magick Brother & Mystic Sister fully embrace their audience and harness a sense of world-creation without subsuming craft to exploration or to theme. That is to say, they’re far out like way far out, but solid enough in the structuring of the material that there’s more on offer than far-outness, and while the songs are tied together in being named for cards in the tarot deck, the resulting front-to-back impression of Tarot Pt. 1 is such that they are distinguished in their individual scopes while enriching the whole work. And for a record like this — or for half of one, as it were — that’s more or less the ideal.

Enjoy “The Fool” below, with the aforementioned album stream near the links at the bottom of this post. Before I turn to you over to it, a note of appreciation to Magick Brother & Mystic Sister and Sound Effect Records for being flexible on scheduling this premiere around my traveling schedule. It is appreciated.

Speaking of travels, happy trails:

Magick Brother & Mystic Sister, “The Fool” video premiere

Zero the hero. The adventurer walks aimlessly near the cosmic void
The Fool was one of the first compositions we did for Tarot. The idea arose from a hypnotic rhythmic base with galactic guitars and synths to convey the feeling born from the stars.

The Fool

I look for a time
I have no land
I have a star

under the sun
I lay beside blades of grass

In the cold land
I walk alone in circles

out of time
I have no land
I have a star

Magic Brother & Mystic Sister are:
Xavi Sandoval: bass and guitars
Eva Muntada: piano, synthesizers, organ & vocals
Alejandro Carmona: drums
Carlos G de Marcos: lyrics

Magick Brother & Mystic Sister, Tarot Pt. 1 (2024)

Magick Brother & Mystic Sister on Facebook

Magick Brother & Mystic Sister on Instagram

Magick Brother & Mystic Sister on Bandcamp

Sound Effect Records on Facebook

Sound Effect Records store

Tags: Barcelona, Magick Brother & Mystic Sister, Magick Brother & Mystic Sister Tarot Pt. 1, Sound Effect Records, Spain, Tarot Pt. 1

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 25th, 2024 at 8:03 am and is filed under Bootleg Theater. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.