Magic Castles

Magic Castles' bright vocal harmonies, hazy guitars, and warm organ drones propel their fantasyland storytelling into a warm, pastoral neo-psychedelic journey. Their early self-released albums caught the ear of like-minded voyager Anton Newcombe, and he signed the group to his A Recordings. The music they made under the label's auspices was a heady trip through the past guided by the clarity of modern recording techniques as shown on albums like 2014's Sky Sounds and 2021's Sun Reign. The band formed in Minneapolis in 2006, growing out of singer/guitarist Jason Edmonds' home-recording project as he tapped singer/guitarist Jeremiah Doering, bassist Paul Fuglestad, drummer Brendan McInerney, and Kait Sergenian. Magic Castles played their first show at a friend's birthday party later that year, began recording their first record the following summer, and by June 2008 offered their self-released debut, The Lore of Mysticore. By then, the group had added keyboardist/singer Noah Skogerboe to further flesh out their sound, and Matt Van Genderen had replaced McInerney on the drums. This new incarnation pulled double duty in 2009, offering sophomore album Dreams of Dreams plus a limited-edition cassette, Sounds of the Forest. Magic Castles got their biggest break in fall 2010, when their song "Ballad of the Golden Bird" landed on Anton Newcombe's radar and inspired the Brian Jonestown Massacre bandleader to release their next album on his A Recordings label. The result was a self-titled release mostly culled from Magic Castles' previous works; serving as an expanded introduction to the band and a re-release of fan favorites now out of print, it arrived in March 2012. A proper third studio LP, Sky Sounds, arrived in late 2014; it was followed by Starflower in 2015. The record featured Edmonds handling most of the musical chores with help from guitarist Doering, drummer Scott Weller, and vocalist Emily Utne. Soon after the album's release. Edmonds put the band into semi-retirement as he struggled with keeping a stable lineup and focused more on his family. He continued to work on music in his home studio, though, until a major car accident resulted in life-threatening injuries. As he recovered, he continued to work on the tracks that were already started, and in early 2020 the sixth Magic Castles album was completed. Featuring guitar work from Doering and a cover of Danny & the Counts' moody garage ballad "Ode to the Wind," Sun Reign was issued by A Recordings in May 2021.
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