Tragic Magic, the new EP by Hamburg based indie band Baydream, is a calming, soft listen.

By Stanley West

Muttered, spoken-sung vocals are hard to pick out and give the album an almost lullaby-like feel. The vocals that are distinguishable emerge hidden from the music, eerie phrases escaping the depths like “a rose from the dead/can’t get me out of bed” and “and we suit up animals/and we shoot our enemies”, the latter lyric coming from a melancholy love song, seemingly about inadequacy and videogames.

It’s something of a departure from the norm for Baydream, who has previously featured on our pages through EP’s Cosmos, Propaganda and Punk House. Yet, it doesn’t lose any of the unconventional charm that we love the act for.

The EP is generally quite morose, a feel created by the quiet vocals and the lo-fi guitar and synth sounds. Lyrically, it’s also quite melancholic. Tragic Magic is a gentle, meandering EP which is lifted by the quality of its melodic section. Although the lyrics are mostly hard to make out, when they are discernible they very much add to the quality of the music. It would possibly be an improvement if the vocals were clearer, but this would also take away from the softness of the music and make it a fundamentally different EP.

I’d recommend Tragic Magic to fans of Big Thief and other soft bands, but it might be popular with some fans of electronic music as well.

You can keep up to date with Baydream by checking out their website, and following them on Instagram, Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer, Amazon Music, and YouTube.

Tragic Magic is out now, and you can listen to it below.