Magic Mind is Sandy’s magnum opus. On their new album, the San Francisco band led by Alexi Glickman crafts a collection of songs combining inventive studio productions with timeless songwriting influenced by the likes of Bach, Brian Wilson, and The Beatles. Giant sized harmonies pair with echoing guitar and colorful synthesizers conjuring the spirit of epic 70’s surf films.
After releasing Chime in 2018, a much loved album recorded in a seaside cabin, Alexi imagined a collection of songs that would invite us to glimpse an alternate world. Looking beyond the lo-fi recording techniques of their back catalog, the band collaborated with studio whiz David Glasebrook (Royal Oakie Records) to achieve a unique fidelity that retains the rough edges of Sandy’s signature sound and places them in a 3D cinematic soundscape.
The album loosely follows an archetypal couple as they move through a mystical realm, encountering both benevolent teachers and violent apparitions attempting to tear them apart. Through it all, they are bound by love and shared dreams. Title track “Magic Mind” celebrates both the brilliance and strife that accompanies the complex minds in the Sandy’s creative family.
Rather than romanticizing their suffering, the song delivers moments of sublime catharsis and transcendence. Meanwhile, lead single “Sami & Sandy” is a lost 80’s cassette pop paen of new love and hope in the face of tragedy, recorded by Jeremy Harris. “Ghost Lake” is a sun faded ballad featuring the shredding of guitar legend Brett Garsed. “Sunken Cathedral”, a sound painting inspired by Debussy, conjures the landscape of Northern California’s Mt. Tamalpais and the surrounding valleys and coastlines the band calls home.
During mixing, Alexi’s father Eddie died suddenly, and new layers of grief and celebration were woven into the fabric of the album to honor his artistic legacy. “Ghost Lake” borrows its title from a 1978 dance choreographed by Eddie for his Santa Monica-based company Rodeo ex Machina, featuring a family of Samurai soaring above a cracked desert basin.
Like the best work of Elliott Smith and Judee Sill, Magic Mind is deeply soulful and possesses an authentic intensity that is undeniable. Ultimately the archetypal couple emerges triumphant from realms of darkness, uncertainty, and adversity—a vibrant metaphor for the human experience; a celebration of what it means to be human and possess a Magic Mind. Highly anticipated third full length from Sandy’s.
Tracklisting: 1. Dimension IV 2. Sami & Sandy 3. Standing on the Water 4. Sunken Cathedral 5. Ghost Lake 6. Moss Landing 7. Collapsing Star 8. Calabi Yau 9. Magic Mind
