Magical Beasts
Yes, My Love, I Am Reaching
(Magical Beasts)
Chicago’s Magical Beasts band (the core of the band is Nathan Paulus, John Herbst and Josh Miller) has just released this 6-song album, Yes, My Love, I Am Reaching. Claiming what we get here are “the dynamics between Love, Sex, deep Yearning, and various forms of Union…†what certainly comes clear is that this trio, with some solid musicians backing them, have the laconic modern-folk thing down.
From the painfully slow, near moaning mix of vocals on opener “Come Find Me,†to the fiddle-infused “7 Nights,†with Jess McIntosh’s vocal and violin featured, it’s clear Paulus certainly can write a solid tune. “Darling†is slightly easier on the ears for me, with its lighter vocal layering and a plodding to its program that moves the tune along better than any before it. “In Praise,†is a long one to take and again, the vocal mix is infectious, the slow playing all in step. It’s just that it takes until the 5-minute mark to get to its loudest and make its mark. You can’t accuse me of not liking long songs, I am a dyed-in-the-wool 70’s prog guy, but it just felt it took a while to get going here for me, for no reason that was needed.
“Little Buds,†a plucky, folksy tune, jumps along at a nice pace, certainly welcomed at this point. With its mix of vocals and jamming fiddle, it might be my favorite of these half dozen. “Farthest Shore†ends, kind of how we began, slow atmosphere, barely-there vocal, a mix and muster of solid backing.
Listeners will either be taken down deep and covered with this aural blanket or reject the sound, there is no middle ground on what and how Magical Beasts deliver their devotion on Yes, My Love, I Am Reaching.
