Young Magic - Melt

‘Melt’, the debut album from Young Magic is essentially what it says it is. A musical documentation of the expedition that the trio embarked on, spanning the globe and recording wherever they went: Mexico, London, Rome, Rio de Janeiro, to name only a few. Along the way, Young Magic seem to have picked up an innumerable amount of influences, there are hints of hip hop and rap, African tribal sounds, and of course like every other new and upcoming band, electronica and dubstep beats. The culmination on paper sounds like it should be painfully eclectic, but true to the construction of the album, rather than piling them all together, the elements are collected like souvenirs from their travels and fused together into one smooth, fluid record.

The haunting chant that filters through a backing of hazy chillwave vibes turns from something ethereal to something powerful with the tribal drums, warming your pallet to the taste of the album as a whole.

Unfortunately, it seems to do that almost..too well really. The second track ’Slip Time’ follows on with another heavy reverberating beat that loops itself, accompanied by an echoing chanting of some sort, it does blend itself into the previous track. Things pick up considerably with ‘You With Air,’ one of the most memorable songs on there, possibly because of the fact it wouldn’t sound out of place soundtracking a jungle game on a gameboy. There is something to be said for that however, there is an edge to it that is missing from a lot of the other songs and is one of the examples where Young Magic really seem to have pushed themselves rather than letting the synthesisers, loops and samples take over. From there on, the next couple of tracks seem to have welded into one, forced onto the album as if they’ve been stitched together like a patchwork quilt, ‘Watch For Our Lights’ breaks the repetition with stuttering drums and again, a bit more energy than the previous “filler tracks” seem to bring.

It’s a shame to say it but the marvel and allure seems to end three tracks too soon before the end of the album with ‘The Dancer’ with some sort of combination between the chanting that is so prevalent here and rap which sets it apart from most of the indiscernible wailing that takes up most of the album. That isn’t to say it isn’t good, no it’s certainly very good but the slippery, warped sound of melting musical influences isn’t anything new, as foreshadowed by the title, it just merges into one big sound flowing and ebbing with throbbing reverberation illuminated by synthesisers. It’s not painful to listen to, it’s just lacking some magic. 

6/10 

Bella Roach