Montreal’s Majical Cloudz sound like hookah-smoking hippies, but their second album is focused and weighty, not spaced out. Matthew Otto keeps the production spooky, surrounding Devon Welsh with minimal drones and ghostly backing vocals, which spotlight the gripping lyrics. Death is a recurring theme, and also Welsh’s preoccupation with how he conducts his life. ‘Mister’ finds him fumbling towards self-acceptance and he even doubts his musical abilities on ‘Impersonator’, but he never seems like a lost cause. On ‘Bugs Don’t Buzz’, when Welsh compares himself and a loved one to cockroaches, you somehow know it’s meant as a compliment. Majical Cloudz may be dark, but there’s light poking through.
Nick Levine