Caught somewhere between some reality and mostly the imaginary, Magic Wands set the scene of their fifth album Illuminate.
Finding it challenging not to produce a reflection of the times, Illuminate isn’t brimming with contemplations of the world’s events. It’s a figment of Dexy and Chris Valentine’s imagination, a mirage of music evading real life.
“We wanted to have it transcend the time,” says Dexy. “We create our own worlds, and it’s an escape from reality. It’s more fantasy-based reality, and there’s lot of imagery in the lyrics, and the songs are like little stories.” Chris adds, “We want people to just forget about whatever’s going on and go somewhere else.”
A follow up to the Los Angeles duo’s Aloha Moon 19 in 2019, all of Illuminate was recorded in 2020, following the pandemic when production was abruptly halted. Shortly after everything shutdown, the Valentines decided to pick up right where they left off.
“Everything kind of froze for a minute, but then we got over that,” says Dexy. “We just said ‘let’s get back to what we were doing’ and just went into our own little bubble and didn’t really pay attention to the outside world.”
Tina Eves 