Listen to their new album in its entirety...A perennial summer favourite, *The Magic Numbers'* August harmonies are built for sweeping, soaring choruses and killer middle eights.
True craftsmen, the band's catalogue is littered with joyous gems, with tracks which retain an evergreen lustre even as the CD jewel-case snaps and fades.
New album 'Alias' though, contains more than its fair share of introspective moments. Sure, that gilded sound remains, but The Magic Numbers - so often a good times band - are unafraid to make their melancholy public.
It's a curious juxtaposition. 'Wake Up' is a six minute rumination on regret, while 'I Thought I Wasn't Ready' is a slow-burning, soulful ode to heartbreak.
With the beaming light of their music, though, the band apply shade to darkness, optimism to melancholy. Remaining as affirming as ever, The Magic Numbers compose disco stomper 'E.N.D.' or the uplifting salute which is 'Roy Orbison'.
Capable of both melting and breaking your heart, The Magic Numbers may just have delivered the most composed, mature album of their career.
Out on August 18th, you can listen to it first on Clash.
Don't forget, The Magic Numbers will be touring this September:
*September*
10 *Glasgow* Garage
11 *Liverpool* East Village Arts Club
12 *Manchester* Academy 2
13 *Leeds* Met Uni
15 *Sheffield* Leadmill
16 *Birmingham* Library Institute
17 *Bristol* Bierkeller
20 *Cambridge* Junction
21 *Oxford* O2 Academy 2
23 *Brighton* St Georges Church
24 *Portsmouth* Wedgewood Rooms
25 *London* Forum
Related: *The Magic Numbers Q&A*
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