‘Magic Gone’ begins abruptly with the Teenage Kicks-esque power chords of Better Than You, painting a picture of an album that’s going to be fuelled by anger, passion and enthusiasm, but the reality is far more measured.
This record, the follow up to 2015’s ‘Shame’, is the first that Kiley Lotz has released since starting a long process towards self-actualisation, having come out as queer while continuing to speak openly about her mental health.
Driven by her adaptable vocals, Lotz inadvertently makes ‘Magic Gone’ more about the lyrics than its musical backdrop. That makes sense given the sincere discussions of its themes, but it also pushes the record into a piano ballad mire.
After the first handful of songs things taper off, losing the steam it cooked up at the start. The immediate triple threat of openers Better Than You, Tightrope and I’m Sorry invoke a similar feeling to Tommy and Chandelier Thief on ‘Shame’, with coarse guitars and solid, almost anthemic rhythms full of rattling angst.
Yet as the seconds tick over, the distortion melts away. It’s a good segue from what listeners will be used to, and what they get with ‘Magic Gone’. The record turns its focus at this point to a series of aching ballads: mid-tempo solo guitar tracks one after another.
There are several sequences that don’t drum up enough interest, and a constant walking pace that would do much better if it were running. The full band is back for the middling title track and Shine but it’s not enough, and the magic has pretty much gone by the time you get to a concluding brace of bland piano songs.
That said, there’s a visceral power in Lotz’s voice that always shines through. Her versatile performance lends itself to both ends of the emo-pop-punk-ballad spectrum: she keeps it strong in the higher registers on Better Than You, balancing things nicely with the heavy, rich guitars, and is equally as radiant when the pace drops.
This softness is audible on tracks like Comfort - a biting “I don’t fucking care” feels more like a hug than a telling off - and also in the more quotidian Something From Me. Here Lotz’s delivery matches the pastel-hued, chalky aesthetic of her namesake, and her current press photos.
Broadly, ‘Magic Gone’ is honest and whole-hearted, but so weighty that it sinks. Too often Lotz makes the mistake of choosing the ballad option over a dynamic full band production; a stylistic either/or that acknowledges how personal the themes behind the record are while simultaneously losing the listener’s attention.
Petal Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows:
Tue November 06 2018 - BRIGHTON Hope & Ruin
Wed November 07 2018 - LONDON Islington
Fri November 09 2018 - BRISTOL Crofters Rights
Sun November 11 2018 - BIRMINGHAM Hare and Hounds
Mon November 12 2018 - MANCHESTER Gulliver's
Tue November 13 2018 - LEEDS Oporto
Wed November 14 2018 - GLASGOW Hug and Pint
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