The Arts & Culture Journal

Animal Magic Tricks

Folk is, to some at least, a dirty word. It conjures up images of large, bearded men in woollen cardigans drinking real ale. However some enlightened folk (get it) have always seen the genre’s potential. The original music of the people, folks haunting simplicity still has the power to venture into the mainstream, as act like Fleet Foxes and Noah And The Whale have proven. Animal Magic Tricks has tapped into that mildly threatening aesthetic that other folk chanteuses, from Jacqui McShee of Pentangle to Laura Marling, have used successfully in the past.

Coming off a little like Jane Eyre set to music, her work conjures images of grey wind swept moors and long walks through the cold night. Her guitar work is simple and melodic, if a little downbeat, but it’s her ethereal voice that really grabs you. Her ghostly tones get into your head and your heart and leave with a cold tingle bringing back those lost loves and chances missed. Lyrically she veers on the side of the wilfully obscure, evidently not one for crass emotional hand wringing. If you’re a fan of eerie folk like Circulus or Comus, this may just be for you.