Holly Miranda- The Magician’s Private Library
7/10

Holly Miranda’s story is quite a colourful one. The daughter of devoted Christians, she spent her childhood under the gaze of god and was banned from engaging in popular culture. As a teen she would steal albums from her older, pot smoking sister, until one day her father found a Nine Inch Nails CD in her bedroom and snapped it in half. At 16 she moved to New York and lined up her first record deal; with the Mafia. But as things started to turn sour and threats started brewing, Holly was forced to leave New York City. When she returned several months later she formed the band The Jealous Girlfriends and met David Sitek (TV On The Radio) in the hallway to her apartment building. Under Sitek’s watch she again decided to go solo and recorded The Magician’s Private Library in his Brooklyn studio. The album begins with ‘Forest Green Oh Forest Green’, a delightfully enriching track filled with bells and sugary chimes. It opens Miranda’s fictional diary and introduces her joyous never ending melody. Instantly ‘Joints’ reminds us that Sitek’s at the helm, his well-used technique of welding together eclipsing electronic sounds is brutal but calming, placing an emphasis on Miranda’s delicate voice which stands out nonchalantly like a young prodigy of Victoria Legrand’s husky vocal assembly. On ‘Waves’ she sounds more like Lizzie Powell (Land Of Talk), with a passionate weep shadowing her voice. Kyp Malone (TV On The Radio, Rain Machine) guests on ‘Slow Burn Treason’, harmonising with Miranda to create a choral chamber where neither voice stands out but both play equal parts. ‘Sweet Dreams’ is sprinkled with horns and conjures a vision of Brooklyn in the Fall when the side walk is scattered with fallen leaves, before ‘Everytime I Go To Sleep’ takes over, adding a gentle keyboard lather with a whimsical carefree glow, exiting soon after the horn section has made a triumphant return. Here Miranda sparkles like Annie Clark (St. Vincent), slightly scatterbrained with a minor increase in intensity and volume. Sitek sprinkles some wonderful samples on ‘Canvas’, allowing Miranda to elevate her voice high above a sizzling hiss, and final track ‘Sleep On Fire’ has a chitter chatter drum beat of similar synthetic value to Fleet Foxes. Holly Miranda’s past is echoed in her songbook but it never takes control, no one song stands out but they all fit together like a jigsaw. Her subjects are filled with mystique and uncertainty and she uses her voice to divide the characters. If Beach House can gather so many fans then so can Holly Miranda, for The Magician’s Private Library stands proudly alongside Devotion. 
Nick

Posted by Nick Fulton under Album, Reviews
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