Here We Go Magic - A Different Ship
- Written by Sam Dufton
An incongruously industrial introduction to A Different Ship leads into an intimate folk track, singing about how it’s ‘Hard To Be Close’, with a gentle vocal positioning itself near enough to your ears to make it seem, in fact, quite easy. Building from an upbeat acoustic guitar accompaniment, the backdrop to this track gradually layers up to a plush landscape, continuing to grow in stature right to the end of the song. This broad sound then snaps us into a claustrophobic shuffle with ‘Make Up Your Mind’. Whilst the gentle build up of the album opener does take you away from the simple opening, it does not prepare you for this that would fill an intelligent dancefloor. Probably the most immediate track on Here We Go Magic's new album, with hushed, clipped lyrics and an enticing lilt of a chorus, it only disappoints when it ends without an ending.
It is possible that this is due to the decision to switch mood again, as it falls to the very relaxed falsetto verses of ‘Alone But Moving’ before picking up that upbeat feeling again with ‘I Believe In Action’; the former appears to be espousing the joys of solo travel, suggesting “Alone but moving/ Only place to be” with the latter decrying both loneliness and noting that “Not moving does not mean you don’t move.” Whether intentional or not, the opposing slow to fast(er) dynamic of the tracklisting does seem to be reflected in a little lyrical turmoil here too.
Whilst A Different Ship has been arguing with itself a little, to good effect of course, there are harmonies to come on ‘Made To Be Old’, with a few other voices used almost as just another layer to the complex sound that lies behind the lyrics. For fear of sounding like we’re angling for a key change, this track does highlight a tendency to steer clear of really launching a song when the opportunity arises. The music may start to build, the vocals get a bit urgent, but it doesn’t quite take off in a joyous cacophony as you feel the songs may want to. Perhaps the band is merely ascending above the obvious pleasures in favour of more interesting ideas, of which there certainly are plenty.
Moving on from that attempt at a complaint, and after the dancey one earlier on, we get to the radio-friendliest track in ‘How Do I Know’. It has what appear to be the simplest lyrics (“How do I know/ If I love you”, for instance) and a generally joyous feel, constructed by that now characteristic constantly building sound, it adds “aah aaah”s, rhythmic “woo woo”s and hand claps on the home straight. It may be that it dismantles itself a little early and a little quickly at the end, or it may just be that you don’t want it to end.
End it must though, and the album does so with the title track, which mixes effects-laden '80s pop with stalling choruses, out of the back of which all the spare ideas and sounds seem to tumble as it draws to a brooding close. A Different Ship may occasionally steer clear of the shallow fun of the crescendo, but it successfully navigates a route through exuberant and intelligent, allowing you to enjoy the tunes and admire the craft of Here We Go Magic.