The Magic might not be a band familiar to most music lovers, but their members' past musical contributions certainly will be. The band is made up of brothers Evan and Geordie Gordon, sons of famed Canadian folk legend James Gordon, who have done time playing with the Barmitzvah Brothers (Geordie), Royal City and Constantines (Evan) and Islands (both of them).
The brothers, who were both born and still live in Guelph, ON, set to work on their first tracks as the Magic six years ago after Geordie acquired a synthesizer and drum machine. He quickly enlisted his brother's help.
"He came to me with this idea, 'I want to make a pop record, here's a couple songs,'" Evan tells Exclaim! "It kind of went from there."
Their new full-length debut, Ragged Gold, was named after an old dance night at one of Guelph's bars after the good times the Gordons and their friends enjoyed there. Its also a sly play on the old idea of making a solid gold record. "Because of the process, it's ragged," he says.
The brothers had played in bands together before, but this was the first time they had collaborated as songwriters. "Geordie writes the words and chords and we get together in the studio and arrange it and finalize everything," says Evan. "It works out really well. It's almost telekinetic. We don't have to discuss anything."
While songs like "Never Made a Sound" certainly bare some of the sonic hallmarks of past collaborators, there was no direct involvement from any of their former bandmates, says Evan. But hanging out with such a wide array of talented musicians, songwriters and producers certainly taught duo a lot.
"Just talking and working and practising and being in the studio, we pick up a lot of tricks and share a lot of knowledge."
Ragged Gold is out digitally now via Half Machine Records and you can stream the entire record below. You can also pre-order the vinyl release here, as well as check out the rest of Exclaim!'s interview with the Magic here.
The brothers, who were both born and still live in Guelph, ON, set to work on their first tracks as the Magic six years ago after Geordie acquired a synthesizer and drum machine. He quickly enlisted his brother's help.
"He came to me with this idea, 'I want to make a pop record, here's a couple songs,'" Evan tells Exclaim! "It kind of went from there."
Their new full-length debut, Ragged Gold, was named after an old dance night at one of Guelph's bars after the good times the Gordons and their friends enjoyed there. Its also a sly play on the old idea of making a solid gold record. "Because of the process, it's ragged," he says.
The brothers had played in bands together before, but this was the first time they had collaborated as songwriters. "Geordie writes the words and chords and we get together in the studio and arrange it and finalize everything," says Evan. "It works out really well. It's almost telekinetic. We don't have to discuss anything."
While songs like "Never Made a Sound" certainly bare some of the sonic hallmarks of past collaborators, there was no direct involvement from any of their former bandmates, says Evan. But hanging out with such a wide array of talented musicians, songwriters and producers certainly taught duo a lot.
"Just talking and working and practising and being in the studio, we pick up a lot of tricks and share a lot of knowledge."
Ragged Gold is out digitally now via Half Machine Records and you can stream the entire record below. You can also pre-order the vinyl release here, as well as check out the rest of Exclaim!'s interview with the Magic here.
