Exmagician - Scan the Blue: psychedelic resurrection for Cashier No 9 guys

Scan the Blue
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Artist: exmagician
Genre: Alternative
Label: Bella Union

Danny Todd and James Smith were previously members of Cashier No 9, the Belfast band that split without fulfilling their enormous potential.

Luckily, the duo’s newest project picks up where they left off, with scuffled, charming melodies and richly-layered songs, but adds a newfound psychedelic swagger to proceedings.

Desperado and Wild Eyes are ballsy indie-rock tunes that will sound incredible live, but there is a hip-snaking, jangly 1960s vibe to Place Your Bets and dashes of colour and dreamy, languid grooves are smattered liberally throughout The Rot Sets In and Smile to the Gallery.

By the time the title track closes the album, you’ve been on an aural journey that’s indubitably dappled with magic – but mostly one that is plain satisfying from beginning to end.

Lauren Murphy

Lauren Murphy

Lauren Murphy is a freelance journalist and broadcaster. She writes about music and the arts for The Irish Times