Tag: MAGON A Night in Bethlehem

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: MAGON Shares Lush and Introspective “Onie Was A Kid”

Over the past handful of years, I’ve spilled quite a bit of virtual ink covering the wildly prolific Israeli-born. Costa Rica-based singer/songwriter, guitarist and JOVM mainstay MAGON. 

Last year, the JOVM mainstay released his fourth album, A Night in Bethlehem, which featured three singles I wound up writing about:

  • “Halley’s Comet,” a dreamy bit of glam-like psych pop featuring glistening and reverb-drenched, post punk-inspired guitars, a simple back beat and fluttering and spacey feedback. Thematically, the song touched upon the immensity of historical and cosmic time: the narrator wonders how life and humanity will be the next time Halley’s Comet passes by our section of the cosmic neighborhood in 2061. 

  • “A Night in Bethlehem,” the album’s title track and second single, which featured a chugging, motorik groove paired with angular bursts of guitar, a razor sharp hook, intergalactic feedback and Magon’s ironically detached vocals. Thematically, the song explored the surrealist fringes of mysticism. 

  • “This Man,” another bit of glam-inspired psych featuring Ziggy Stardust-era Bowie groove paired with a steady yet propulsive backbeat, some lysergic guitar solos, a supple bass line and Magon’s imitable, ironically detached deadpan. But at its core is a narrator, who yearns for something deeper, more profound and more true in a mad, mad, mad world. 

Immediately after the release show for A Night in Bethlehem, MAGON, along with his girlfriend and daughter relocated to Costa Rica. He closed the year with “Simple Mind,” a song that saw the JOVM mainstay gently refining his sound yet again with hints of surf rock and jangle pop while retaining the hook-driven nature of his previously released material. Written during a major life transition, ‘Simple Mind” features a narrator, who’s closing a major chapter of his life — and perhaps career, as well — and is moving on to a new start, new possibilities, and new horizons.

Continuing his reputation for being wildly and restlessly prolific, MAGON’s fifth album Did You Hear The Kids? reportedly features a broader and more expansive sonic palette than ever before. The forthcoming album’s first single, the lush and laid-back “Onie Was A Kid” sounds as though it meshes elements of 60s psych rock, lo-fi singer/songwriter pop and contemporary indie rock paired with lyrics that are simultaneously auto-biographical and introspective. The song also features a guest spot from Paris-based indie duo SOS Citizen, who contribute shimmering guitar work and soaring backing vocals.

The accompanying video for “Onie Was A Kid” features some trippy animation by Hugo Tran and title cards by Titouan Pouliquen that are heavily influenced by the song’s lyrics.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: JOVM Mainstay MAGON Shares Trippy and Introspective “Simple Mind”

Over the past three years or so, I think I’ve spilled more virtual ink covering wildly prolific JOVM mainstays LutchamaK and Israeli-born Paris-based singer/songwriter, guitarist MAGON. 

Continuing upon a remarkably prolific period, MAGON released his fourth album, A Night in Bethlehem, earlier this year. I managed to write about three of the album’s singles — two in the lead-up to the album’s release:

  • “Halley’s Comet,” a dreamy bit of glam-like psych pop featuring glistening and reverb-drenched, post punk-inspired guitars, a simple back beat and fluttering and spacey feedback. Thematically, the song touched upon the immensity of historical and cosmic time: the narrator wonders how life and humanity will be the next time Halley’s Comet passes by our section of the cosmic neighborhood in 2061. 

  • “A Night in Bethlehem,” the album’s title track and second single, which featured a chugging, motorik groove paired with angular bursts of guitar, a razor sharp hook, intergalactic feedback and Magon’s ironically detached vocals. Thematically, the song explored the surrealist fringes of mysticism. 

  • “This Man,” another bit of glam-inspired psych featuring Ziggy Stardust-era Bowie groove paired with a steady yet propulsive backbeat, some lysergic guitar solos, a supple bass line and Magon’s imitable, ironically detached deadpan. But at its core is a narrator, who yearns for something deeper, more profound and more true in a mad, mad, mad world.

The day after the release show for A Night in Bethlehem, MAGON, along with his girlfriend and daughter relocated to Costa Rica. Interestingly, the JOVM mainstay’s latest single “Simple Mind” sees the Israeli-born artist gently refining his sound with hints of surf rock and jangle pop while retaining the hook-driven nature of his previously released material. Written during a major life transition, “Simple Mind” features a narrator, who’s closing a chapter in his career and life and is moving on to a new start, new possibilities and new horizons.

Animated by Violette Legoupil and Ronan Hubert-Duprat, the accompanying video for “Simple Mind” is rooted in a sort of Biblical return to nature while being mind-bending and lysergic.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: JOVM Mainstay MAGON Shares a Trippy and Introspective New Single

Over the past couple of years, I’ve managed to spill a copious amount of virtual ink covering Israeli-born, Paris-based singer/songwriter, guitarist and JOVM mainstay MAGON.

Late last year, the Israeli-French artist released his critically applauded sophomore album Hour After Hour, an album that sonically was a decided change in direction with the material being “somewhere between Ty Segall, Allah-Las and The Velvet Underground” according to the Israeli-born, Parisian artist. 

Magon closed out the year with his third album In The Blue, an album that saw him drawing from two completely different sets of influences — 70s rock like Lou Reed and Led Zeppelin and contemporary influences like Mac DeMarco and Devendra Banhart. Written around the birth of the artist’s daughter, the album is centered around what may arguably be some of the most introspective songwriting of his growing catalog — while featuring a more assertive delivery. 

Continuing upon a remarkably prolific period, MAGON released his fourth album, A Night in Bethlehem. In the lead-up to the album’s release last week I managed to write about two album singles:

  • “Halley’s Comet,” a dreamy bit of glam-like psych pop featuring glistening and reverb-drenched, post punk-inspired guitars, a simple back beat and fluttering and spacey feedback. Thematically, the song touched upon the immensity of historical and cosmic time: the narrator wonders how life and humanity will be the next time Halley’s Comet passes by our section of the cosmic neighborhood in 2061.
  • “A Night in Bethlehem,” the album’s title track and second single, which featured a chugging, motorik groove paired with angular bursts of guitar, a razor sharp hook, intergalactic feedback and Magon’s ironically detached vocals. Thematically, the song explored the surrealist fringes of mysticism.

A Night in Bethlehem‘s third and latest single “This Man” continues a remarkable run of glam-inspired psych featuring at trippy, Ziggy Stardust-era Bowie groove paired with a steady yet propulsive backbeat, some lysergic guitar solos, a supple bass line and Magon’s imitable, ironically detached deadpan. While superficially describing an unusual dude, who lives next door, the song’s narrator subtly points out that this man sees things in a much deeper fashion with his two eyes. Much like its predecessors, the new single yearns for something deeper, more profound, more true in a mad, mad, mad world.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: JOVM Mainstay MAGON Shares a Mind-Bending Visual for Trippy “A Night in Bethlehem”

Over the course of the past two or three years or so, I’ve managed to spill quite a bit of virtual ink covering the Israeli-born, Paris-based singer/songwriter, guitarist and JOVM mainstay MAGON. And with the release of Out in the Dark, the Parisian-based JOVM mainstay quickly established a sound that at the time, he dubbed as “urban rock on psychedelics.”  

Late last year, the Israeli-French artist released his critically applauded sophomore album Hour After Hour, an album that sonically was a decided change in direction with the material being “somewhere between Ty Segall, Allah-Las and The Velvet Underground” according to the Israeli-born, Parisian artist. 

Magon closed out the year with his third album In The Blue, an album that saw him drawing from two completely different sets of influences — 70s rock like Lou Reed and Led Zeppelin and contemporary influences like Mac DeMarco and Devendra Banhart. Written around the birth of the artist’s daughter, the album is centered around what may arguably be some of the most introspective songwriting of his growing catalog — while featuring a more assertive delivery. 

In the lead-up to In The Blue‘s release, I wrote about three of the album’s singles:

  • “The Willow,” an introspective bit of 70s-inspired art rock, that follows its characters on a trip to Egypt, where its primary narrator sees the titular willow. But interestingly, the trip serves as a larger and deeper metaphor for its characters, who are all desperately trying to find something — perhaps themselves or a deeper, hidden truth? 
  • “Egyptian Music,” a slow-burning vibey ballad of sorts, centered around shimmering and reverb-drenched guitars paired with impressionistic yet introspective songwriting — with the song equally evoking nostalgia and regret. 
  • “Forever,” vibey, mid-tempo song that’s one part AM rock, one part post-punk centered around impressionistic lyrics touching out regret, forgiveness, love and time and its inevitable passing sung by a narrator, who seems burnt out by just about everything. 

Continuing upon a remarkably prolific period, the Israeli-born, French-based artist’s forthcoming album A Night in Bethlehem is slated for a June 3, 2022 release. Last month, I wrote about A Night in Bethlehem single “Hailey’s Comet,” a dreamy bit of psych pop centered around glistening and reverb-drenched post punk-like guitars, a simple back beat and fluttering, intergalactic-like feedback that touched upon the immensity of historical and cosmic time.

The song’s narrator spends the song wondering how life and humanity will be the next time Halley’s Comet passes by our part of the cosmic neighborhood in 2061. How many of us will be around? What will we say about this moment to our descendants? Will history be kind to us? 

A Night in Bethlehem‘s second and latest single, album title track “A Night in Bethlehem” continues a run of trippy, psych rock centered around a chugging motorik groove, angular bursts of guitar paired with a razor sharp hook, intergalactic feedback and Magon’s ironically detached vocals in a song that thematically explores the surrealist fringes of mysticism.

Fittingly, the accompanying video for “A Night in Bethlehem” is a lysergic trip through both Bethlehem and the cosmos.

singer/songwriters by William Ruben Helms

New Video: JOVM Mainstay MAGON Contemplates Cosmic Time in “Halley’s Comet”

Over the course of the past two or three years or so, I’ve managed to spill quite a bit of virtual ink covering the Israeli-born, Paris-based singer/songwriter, guitarist and JOVM mainstay MAGON. And if you’ve been frequenting this site over that period of time, you may recall that with the release of Out in the Dark, the Parisian-based JOVM mainstay quickly established a sound that at the time, he dubbed as “urban rock on psychedelics.”  

Late last year, the Israeli-French artist released his critically applauded sophomore album Hour After Hour, an album that sonically was a decided change in direction with the material being “somewhere between Ty Segall, Allah-Las and The Velvet Underground” according to the Israeli-born, Parisian artist.

Magon closed out the year with his third album In The Blue, an album that saw him drawing from two completely different sets of influences — 70s rock like Lou Reed and Led Zeppelin and contemporary influences like Mac DeMarco and Devendra Banhart. Written around the birth of the artist’s daughter, the album is centered around what may arguably be some of the most introspective songwriting of his growing catalog — paired with a bit more assertive delivery. 

In the lead-up to In The Blue‘s release, I wrote about three of the album’s singles:

  • “The Willow,” an introspective bit of 70s-inspired art rock, that follows its characters on a trip to Egypt, where its primary narrator sees the titular willow. But interestingly, the trip serves as a larger and deeper metaphor for its characters, who are all desperately trying to find something — perhaps themselves or a deeper, hidden truth? 
  • “Egyptian Music,” a slow-burning vibey ballad of sorts, centered around shimmering and reverb-drenched guitars paired with impressionistic yet introspective songwriting — with the song equally evoking nostalgia and regret. 
  • “Forever,” vibey, mid-tempo song that’s one part AM rock, one part post-punk centered around impressionistic lyrics touching out regret, forgiveness, love and time and its inevitable passing sung by a narrator, who seems burnt out by just about everything.

Continuing upon a remarkably prolific period, the Israeli-born, French-based artist’s forthcoming album A Night in Bethlehem will be releasing within a few short months of last year’s In The Blue. A Night in Bethlehem‘s first single “Hailey’s Comet” is a dreamy bit of psych pop centered around glistening, reverb drenched post punk guitars, a simple back beat, fluttering intergalactic-like feedback.

The song touches upon cosmic time. The song’s narrator spends the song wondering how life and humanity will be the next time Hailey’s Comet passes by our part of the cosmic neighborhood in 2061. How many of us will be around? What will we say about this moment to our descendants? Will history be kind to us?

Directed by Mihaela Minder and Mason and featuring trippy, space-inspired animation by minder, and starting Titouan Pouliquen as an astronomer, studying Hailey’s Comet, preparing for its eventual return.

A Night in Bethlehem is slated for a June 3, 2022 release.