MAGIC BUS

The Earth Years

ITime to let the sunshine in.

t may be mere serendipity rather than the result of cunning plans, but the fourth album from Devon’s Magic Bus has arrived just when it’s most needed. The Earth Years is the most uplifting, sunny release yet from the group, drenched in warm organ tones and filled with positive messages. ‘Summer’s coming, hope is coming,’ sings frontman Paul Evans on We Are One. Inca Trail sees the band borrowing Ringo’s Come Together drum sound, while Barleycorn brings the guitar to the forefront with a tougher sonic edge and a syncopated, staccato beat in the vein of 70s Rush. Evans doesn’t have a particularly

imposing vocal style, but he’s not required to compete with Marshall stacks and Tube Screamers, and his mellow delivery suits the prevailing easy vibe. Lyrically, there’s a move away from the science fiction themes of their albums Phillip The

Egg and Transmission From Sogmore’s Garden towards more earthly concerns about wellbeing and togetherness.

It could feel like a trite exercise in lazy platitudes about peace, man, and longing for some imagined Summer Of Love, but the writing feels too fresh for that. For anyone in need of a pick-meup, this offers a tonic of optimism.