Little Wings - Magic Wand
(K)
Culminating in the vastly underappreciated Light Green Leaves, Kyle Field's previous output came as an exciting addition to the increasingly progressive K roster, as well as the growing folk movement in America. Tastemaker Devendra Banhart spotted Kyle Field's brilliance, and chose to include a Little Wings song on the Golden Apples of the Sun compilation, which he curated. And while Kyle's certainly garnered plenty of attention up to this point, there's certainly a heightened awareness surrounding this new album.
Magic Wand is well suited to the attention. It's Kyle's most accessible, and "complete" album yet. Complete in that the songs feel entirely comfortable and confident. His lyrics are (as always) great, and the songwriting is clever and endearingly self referential.
Coming pretty hot on the heels of the CD reissue of his Harvest Joy LP, Magic Wand retains small traces of that LP. "Everybody" hints at the lyrical ideas previously heard in "There's No Invisible Disguise That Lasts All Day" "Hanta Yo Three" has pleasantly developed out of "Hanta Yo Deux," "Uncle Kyle Says" has a quick reference to the "Order in the court!" line from "Next Time," and the chord progressions in "Sing Wide" and "Laugh Now" sound reminiscent of "Look at What the Light Did Now."
Be it an echoing piano ("I Am With You"), an acoustic guitar ("Everbody"), Phil Elverum's steel drum ("Laugh Now"), or a full band ("White Sky") accompanying his untethered vocals, Kyle's lyrics stalk this album with the utmost confidence. Though occasionally self-effacing: "I record a song, someone says 'So what? It sounds like shit'...So what is this perspective, it's a pin prick on forever," his sense of meter, rhyme and message are among the best around. Kyle's lyrics are flowing and evocative, and they can stand the test of being paid closer attention, which unfortunately is a really rare thing these days.
With so many good songs, "Everybody," "I am With You," "So What?," "Hanta Yo Three," "Random Lee," and "Darkened Car," this album certainly doesn't disappoint. However, something that was there for his previous seems missing. I certainly don't know what it is, but it's holding this record back a little. It seems almost reserved, despite some of its silliness ("Uncle Kyle Says"). Still a great record, but it doesn't outdo his previous ones.
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