Aural Aggravation

US dream-pop duo Magic Wands have released a brand new single entitled ‘Sacred Mirrors’. The song is a collaboration with guitarist John Ashton, best known as a member of the iconic post-punk rock group The Psychedelic Furs who played a key role in all seven of their album releases made between 1980 and 1991.

The group went on hiatus soon after and Ashton became a producer, working with Marianne Faithfull and The Sisters Of Mercy (he had also produced their classic 1982 single, ‘Alice’), but he remained with the Furs for another eight years following their reformation in 2000. He released the solo album Satellite Paradiso in 2016.

“I fell in love with Magic Wands via a friend who sent me some of their music,” states Ashton. “The songs immediately drew me in via the visions and emotions they imparted on my psyche. I was hooked and wanted more, finding it in songs like ‘Across The Water’ from their latest album, Cascades. To say I was inspired to write new music would be an understatement. I was recently interviewed for the Sticky Jazz podcast and mentioned that I had been listening to the new record, and it turned out the host was also a fan of the band and hooked me up! ‘Sacred Mirrors’ was inspired by their music and I am honoured to have been given the opportunity to collaborate with them on this.”

The feeling is mutual, with Magic Wands (Dexy and Chris Valentine) declaring that “we have always been fans of The Psychedelic Furs and John has a certain style of guitar playing that strikes its own emotional chord with us. We love his solo song ‘Invisible’, his production on ‘Alice’ by The Sisters of Mercy, and of course his incredible guitar work on Furs songs such as ‘Pretty in Pink’, ‘Dumb Waiters’, ‘Into You Like a Train’, ‘Heartbreak Beat’ and ‘Until She Comes’.”

Ashton sent an instrumental track already entitled ‘Sacred Mirrors’ to the band, who promptly added an additional guitar, keyboards, percussion and vocals, with Dexy adding lyrics and Chris then producing and mixing the finished song. “The song is based around John’s title but approached from a more spiritual perspective,” explains Dexy. “We are all sky gazers, so it includes imagery about the sky, sea, moon and stars. It’s a love song for outsiders about reflections and dreaming of endless possibilities. It has definitely inspired us to get back to writing from a lighter side rather than the shadow, which we dove deep into on both ‘Cascades’ and our ‘Switch’ album before that. We needed to be brought back to a more uplifting side of making music, and the DNA of John’s songwriting has helped us to do just that.”

AA