Warren Spicer, singer-guitarist of Montreal's Plants and Animals, has launched a solo project with a new single. Unessential Oils' debut single "Distrust the Magician" is out now via Secret City Records.
The song was inspired by seeing a magician perform tricks in a Parisian bar. Spicer said in a statement, "Cards were appearing all over the bar and then disappearing in a storm of deception. The look of mischievous satisfaction in this man's eyes left me very unsettled. He's the magician in the song. But he transforms by the end of the song to embody someone who has lied to me and hurt me irreparably. My only defence in his presence is to chant, 'I am above you now!' It's an affirmation, my way of seeing through the trick and knowing in my heart what is real."
The song is a groove-driven six-minute jam with fairly minimal vocals. Among the musicians who play on the track is Ariel Engle (La Force, Broken Social Scene) on backing harmonies.