The Magic City

Can an album with Ash Bowie (polvo) and Mary Timony be bad? Nay! While Helium's full-length debut THE DIRT OF LUCK wandered around the deeper crevices and netherworlds of the human soul, its second album THE MAGIC CITY finds Mary Timony's trio exploring an external, mythical world. Wearing its J.R.R. Tolkien influence on its sleeve, THE MAGIC CITY revels in songs of the medieval world; lullabies, romance and dragons and other fanciful, mythical beasts are all food for Helium's bizarre, quasi-Renaissance twist on dissonant guitar-driven indie rock. For the most part on THE MAGIC CITY, Timony's vocals float over songs that meander playfully through dramatically different movements -- a particularly stunning example of this being the hypnotic, symphonic eight-minute 'The Revolution of Hearts.' 'Leon's Space Song' whirls around the maypole, setting raging, insistent yet traditional violins against ultra-modern lyrics and a timeless melody. While Timony has an enticing and unique voice, the most spellbinding track of all, the organ driven instrumental 'Medieval People,' abandons vocals entirely for a dervish-like intensity.