Here We Go Magic

Here We Go Magic spent the better part of 2011 putting together "A Different Ship" with producer Nigel Godrich (Radiohead, Beck). The resulting album is sunny and spacious, with "How Do I Know" as its molten core. With its instantly hummable refrain, the song builds layer by layer from a simple guitar-vocals-drums combo into a swirling symphony of glorious noise.

Here We Go Magic's sophomore album, Pigeons, had only been out a few weeks when the seeds for A Different Ship were planted in late June 2010 at the Glastonbury Festival. The New York band had been on the road since spring, wowing audiences at Bonnaroo, Coachella and elsewhere with their uncanny live chemistry, turning album tracks into intricately groovy sonic explorations where the band seemed almost synchronously possessed. That had been their sweet spot since their earliest rehearsals together, when singer/songwriter Luke Temple, bassist Jennifer Turner, guitarist Michael Bloch, drummer Peter Hale and then-keyboardist Kristina Lieberson bonded over a shared belief in musical spontaneity and a kind of improvisation that feels too divinely ordered to be called "jamming."

But you can never count on festival conditions, and Glastonbury started off rough for Here We Go Magic. Onstage before noon in the scorching sun, operating on a few hours of uncomfortable sleep ("we didn't know we were supposed to bring tents"), they struggled at the start of their set to feel connected to the crowd. "We were playing horribly hungover and groggy in front of hungover and groggy people," says Bloch.

"The crowd wasn't giving us much to work with, except for these two guys standing in front," Temple continues. "One of them was dancing around like a maniac and I was like, 'I'm just gonna play for those two guys. Then I realized, 'That's fucking Thom Yorke and Nigel Godrich!'" The band met Yorke and Godrich briefly after their set, and over the next few weeks, Godrich popped up at their shows in London and Paris, eventually proposing to Here We Go Magic that he might lend a hand with their next recording. In particular, the producer said he thought he could help them better communicate their hypnotic and hypnagogic live vibe on tape.

The disc is backed with "My Plate's on Fire" - an outtake from the band's recording sessions with Godrich. The fuzzy drone creeps steadily along under singer Luke Temple's falsetto and demonstrates the range of this remarkable band.

"...in the heady pulse of standouts like 'How Do I Know' or 'Hard to Be Close,' you can get a much clearer understanding for why a Here We Go Magic live experience was and is potent enough to send guys like Yorke and Godrich into early morning spasms. Their many gifts are on full display here, in their finest light." - SPIN

"How Do I Know b/w My Plate's On Fire" was released digitally on April 10th, 2012 with a physical 7" in stores on May 22nd.

Here We Go Magic spent the better part of 2011 putting together "A Different Ship" with producer Nigel Godrich (Radiohead, Beck). The resulting album is sunny and spacious, with "How Do I Know" as its molten core. With its instantly hummable refrain, the song builds layer by layer from a simple guitar-vocals-drums combo into a swirling symphony of glorious noise.

Here We Go Magic's sophomore album, Pigeons, had only been out a few weeks when the seeds for A Different Ship were planted in late June 2010 at the Glastonbury Festival. The New York band had been on the road since spring, wowing audiences at Bonnaroo, Coachella and elsewhere with their uncanny live chemistry, turning album tracks into intricately groovy sonic explorations where the band seemed almost synchronously possessed. That had been their sweet spot since their earliest rehearsals together, when singer/songwriter Luke Temple, bassist Jennifer Turner, guitarist Michael Bloch, drummer Peter Hale and then-keyboardist Kristina Lieberson bonded over a shared belief in musical spontaneity and a kind of improvisation that feels too divinely ordered to be called "jamming."

But you can never count on festival conditions, and Glastonbury started off rough for Here We Go Magic. Onstage before noon in the scorching sun, operating on a few hours of uncomfortable sleep ("we didn't know we were supposed to bring tents"), they struggled at the start of their set to feel connected to the crowd. "We were playing horribly hungover and groggy in front of hungover and groggy people," says Bloch.

"The crowd wasn't giving us much to work with, except for these two guys standing in front," Temple continues. "One of them was dancing around like a maniac and I was like, 'I'm just gonna play for those two guys. Then I realized, 'That's fucking Thom Yorke and Nigel Godrich!'" The band met Yorke and Godrich briefly after their set, and over the next few weeks, Godrich popped up at their shows in London and Paris, eventually proposing to Here We Go Magic that he might lend a hand with their next recording. In particular, the producer said he thought he could help them better communicate their hypnotic and hypnagogic live vibe on tape.

The disc is backed with "My Plate's on Fire" - an outtake from the band's recording sessions with Godrich. The fuzzy drone creeps steadily along under singer Luke Temple's falsetto and demonstrates the range of this remarkable band.

"...in the heady pulse of standouts like 'How Do I Know' or 'Hard to Be Close,' you can get a much clearer understanding for why a Here We Go Magic live experience was and is potent enough to send guys like Yorke and Godrich into early morning spasms. Their many gifts are on full display here, in their finest light." - SPIN

"How Do I Know b/w My Plate's On Fire" was released digitally on April 10th, 2012 with a physical 7" in stores on May 22nd.

Here We Go Magic spent the better part of 2011 putting together "A Different Ship" with producer Nigel Godrich (Radiohead, Beck). The resulting album is sunny and spacious, with "How Do I Know" as its molten core. With its instantly hummable refrain, the song builds layer by layer from a simple guitar-vocals-drums combo into a swirling symphony of glorious noise.

Here We Go Magic's sophomore album, Pigeons, had only been out a few weeks when the seeds for A Different Ship were planted in late June 2010 at the Glastonbury Festival. The New York band had been on the road since spring, wowing audiences at Bonnaroo, Coachella and elsewhere with their uncanny live chemistry, turning album tracks into intricately groovy sonic explorations where the band seemed almost synchronously possessed. That had been their sweet spot since their earliest rehearsals together, when singer/songwriter Luke Temple, bassist Jennifer Turner, guitarist Michael Bloch, drummer Peter Hale and then-keyboardist Kristina Lieberson bonded over a shared belief in musical spontaneity and a kind of improvisation that feels too divinely ordered to be called "jamming."

But you can never count on festival conditions, and Glastonbury started off rough for Here We Go Magic. Onstage before noon in the scorching sun, operating on a few hours of uncomfortable sleep ("we didn't know we were supposed to bring tents"), they struggled at the start of their set to feel connected to the crowd. "We were playing horribly hungover and groggy in front of hungover and groggy people," says Bloch.

"The crowd wasn't giving us much to work with, except for these two guys standing in front," Temple continues. "One of them was dancing around like a maniac and I was like, 'I'm just gonna play for those two guys. Then I realized, 'That's fucking Thom Yorke and Nigel Godrich!'" The band met Yorke and Godrich briefly after their set, and over the next few weeks, Godrich popped up at their shows in London and Paris, eventually proposing to Here We Go Magic that he might lend a hand with their next recording. In particular, the producer said he thought he could help them better communicate their hypnotic and hypnagogic live vibe on tape.

The disc is backed with "My Plate's on Fire" - an outtake from the band's recording sessions with Godrich. The fuzzy drone creeps steadily along under singer Luke Temple's falsetto and demonstrates the range of this remarkable band.

"...in the heady pulse of standouts like 'How Do I Know' or 'Hard to Be Close,' you can get a much clearer understanding for why a Here We Go Magic live experience was and is potent enough to send guys like Yorke and Godrich into early morning spasms. Their many gifts are on full display here, in their finest light." - SPIN

"How Do I Know b/w My Plate's On Fire" was released digitally on April 10th, 2012 with a physical 7" in stores on May 22nd.