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Oct 14, 2015 Majical Cloudz By Ryan E.C. Hamm

Devon Welsh, singer and primary lyricist of duo Majical Cloudz, has a habit of locking eyes with audience members during concerts, and not breaking the eye contact for uncomfortably long periods of time. It’s become something of a legend around the band. And, at least if new album Are You Alone? is any indication, it might be the perfect way to experience this music: someone singing the words, eyes boring into your soul.

Are You Alone? extends some of the same sounds of Majical Cloudz’s debut album, Impersonator, but the music seems stretched and more expansive. Whereas Impersonator mostly relied on a backbone of echo-y synth beats and sparse keyboards, this time Matthew Otto has a more extensive palette to play with. Opener “Disappeared” features dampened keys, and organ lends a heft to mournful tracks like “So Blue” and “Are You Alone?” The music is a subtle—but welcome—shift from the minimalism of Impersonator, from the clattering drum beats of the title track to the building momentum of vibraphone sounds on “Game Show.”

But, just like Impersonator, the lyrics of Are You Alone? are the main qualities that stand out on the album. “Will you let me change?/I want to, but I think you want me the same,” Welsh sings on “Control.” “I fell in love for the first time, it would change my whole life/I would learn to love someone and not be alone/So slowly, the love went away,” he remembers on “If You’re Lonely.” These are capital-C Confessions in song form, a soundtrack for a long put-off session with a priest. The characters in these songs are people you know and have loved or hated—and chances are, you see yourself in plenty of them.

Are You Alone? continues Majical Cloudz’s starkly moving career. Don’t be surprised if Welsh continues to lock eyes with audience members on the Alone tour—it might be the best way to hear these songs. (www.majicalcloudz.com)

Author rating: 8/10