Tag: MAGON Egyptian Music

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.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: JOVM Mainstay MAGON Returns with a Brooding and Introspective Single

Over the past 18 months or so, I’ve managed to spill quite a bit of virtual ink covering Israeli-born, Paris-based singer/songwriter, guitarist and JOVM mainstay MAGON. With the release of Out in the Dark, the Israeli-born, Paris-based artist 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, which featured “Change,” a dreamy meditation on the passing of time, “Aerodynamic,” a decidedly glam rock-inspired take on psych rock and the No Wave meets post-punk like album title track “Hour After Hour.” Sonically, the album’s material was a decided change in direction with the material being ” “somewhere between Ty Segall, Allah-Las and The Velvet Underground” according to the JOVM mainstay.

The Israeli-French artist’s third album In The Blue officially dropped today and the album sees MAGON drawing from two 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 two 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,” In The Blue‘s third and latest single, is a vibey-mid tempo song that’s one part AM rock, one part-post punk centered around impressionistic lyrics touching upon regret, forgiveness, time and its inevitable passing, and love. But interestingly, the song’s narrator — to me, at least — seems a bit worn out and exhausted by — well, everything.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: JOVM Mainstay MAGON Releases a Trippy and Artsy Visual for Slow-Burning “Egyptian Music”

With the release of Out in the Dark, the Israeli-born, Paris-based singer/songwriter, guitarist and JOVM mainstay MAGON quickly established a sound that he has publicly dubbed “urban rock on psychedelics.” Sonically, to my ears, the material seemed indebted to Ziggy Stardust era David Bowie and T. Rex. 

Late last year, the Israeli-born, Paris-based artist released his critically applauded sophomore album Hour After Hour. Featuring tracks like  “Change,” a dreamy meditation on the passing of time, “Aerodynamic,” a decidedly glam rock-inspired take on psych rock and the No Wave meets post-punk like album title track “Hour After Hour,” MAGON’s sophomore album was a decided change in direction with the album’s material being “somewhere between Ty Segall, Allah-Las and The Velvet Underground” according to MAGON. 

MAGON’s third album In The Blue is slated for a December 3, 2021 release through Howlin’ Banana and December Square. The soon-to-be released album reportedly finds the Israeli-born, French-based mainstay drawing from two different sets of influences — 70s rock Lou Reed and Led Zeppelin and contemporary influences like Mac DeMarco and Devendra Banhart, while being centered around some of the most introspective songwriting of MAGON’s career to date.

Last month, I wrote about In The Blue single “The Willow.” Continuing a remarkable run of 70s rock inspired material paired with introspective songwriting: The song follows its characters on a trip to Egypt, where the narrator sees the titular willow. But the trip also serves as a larger metaphor for its characters, who are desperately trying to find something — themselves? some deeper, hidden truth?  

In The Blue‘s latest single “Egyptian Music” is 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.

Directed by MAGON, the recently released video is split between gorgeously shot black and white live action sequences with cinematography by Justine Mangin animation and set design by Michael Mîndru.