To me, titling an album ‘Magic’ can mean many things, it can hint at dreamy/folky/whimsical, or it could also add an air of mystery to the recording. The other option is to take it as a bold statement as to the albums quality, which would naturally bring an air of expectation to the listener, as it did to me. Unfortunately I have to get the bad news out of the way first, and say that there was one thing which didn’t really grab me as ‘magic’, and that was the vocal. In the 10 tracks, it did vary in tone/arrangements, but didn’t really do it well enough to hold my attention.

Now for the good news, Sean Rowe, to me, is great as a lyricist. Although the very melancholy/negative themes don’t excite me on a personal level, I did find the storylines interesting, and phrases like ‘death was looking for a dancer’ and ‘kingdom of heaven is down at the mall’ hint at emotional depth, with other highlights coming when Sean ups the tempo, and adds a bit of blues/funk to the mix in tracks like ‘Wrong Side Of The Bed’. I preferred these up-tempo tracks more, and enjoyed the addition of the bass/electric guitar in the arrangements. The backing vocals also added more colour to the production. It’s not a record I’d buy, as I want something more/different from the singing, but there are some gems in the music and lyrics, so I would suggest giving this a chance, and maybe you’ll find them!

‘Magic’ by Sean Rowe is released on May 24th 2010. For more information visit www.seanrowe.net.