Magic Wands | |
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Chris and Dexy Valentine of Magic Wands
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Background information | |
Origin | Nashville, Tennessee |
Genres | Dream pop |
Years active | 2009–present |
Labels | Ark Recordings, Bright Antenna, Cleopatra Records |
Website | magiclovedreams |
Members | Chris Valentine Dexy Valentine Tommy Alexander Keith Crutchfield |
Magic Wands is a dream pop band, originally from Nashville, Tennessee and currently based in Los Angeles, California. The band refers to their sound as "lovewave".
The band was formed by Chris Valentine (guitar, vocals) and Dexy Valentine (guitar, keyboards, vocals) in summer 2008, after Chris found a copy of Dexy's song, "Teenage Love", online and the two got in touch. Dexy moved from Los Angeles to Nashville and the two began to write music together. The name of the band stemmed from the gift of a magic wand from Chris to Dexy while the two were living on opposite sides of the country.
Their first single, "Black Magic", was released on 7" vinyl in 2008 by Ark Recordings. In late 2009, the band signed to indie label Bright Antenna and released their first EP, Magic Love & Dreams, recorded in New York City with producer John Hill (Santigold/Lykke Li). In a review in Prefix Magazine, the album was scored 7 out of 10, with critic Matthew Richardson writing, "The whole EP is covered with the cosmic haze of dream-pop, while the Valentines maintain the attitude of punk kids".
On February 17, 2010, RCRD LBL released a download of the track "Warrior", remixed by The xx.
The Wands' debut album, Aloha Moon, was announced on the Spin website on February 7, 2012, along with a stream of the single "Space". Reviewer David Marchese wrote that the track was "a sexy and propulsive stunner...a really cool song, suggestive of the darker side of '80s pop and brighter side of falling in love".
Aloha Moon was released on April, 24, 2012 by Bright Antenna. The band toured as openers for The Jesus and Mary Chain in summer 2012.
Magic Wands relocated to Los Angeles, and added two new members: bassist Tommy Alexander and drummer Keith Crutchfield.