Magic Dance - 'Vanishings'

A fantastic eighties AOR gem.

Magic Dance is the brainchild of multi-talented musician, singer, song-writer and New Yorker Jon Siejka. 'Vanishings' is the sophomore album under the MD moniker and the follow-up to 2014's 'The Mirror Of Dreams'. The debut had an eighties Synth Pop sound similar to A-ha, OMD, etc. However, as first heard on last year's 'Haunting Me' EP, Siejka has made a slight sonic change to the keyboards, introduced a bit more guitar and added some urgency to his vocal delivery and, in doing so, produced a fantastic eighties AOR gem.

If you are a fan of eighties sound, you will be hooked by the time the first chorus of opening track 'Another Lost Boy' hits your ears. Do you remember the first time you heard Strangeways? It just gets better with the captivating 'When We Were Young' and 'The Mirror', by which point you already think that you are listening to something very special. Both opening songs feature excellent guitar solos by Tim Mackey. Siejka vocals are ideally suited to this style of music, in the vein of Nick Van Eede (Cutting Crew) or Dave Lloyd (2am), and he also handles most of instruments with assistance from Kevin Krug on bass throughout. The great mix and mastering is by Jarek Musil.



'I Need A Name' veers a little more towards the Pop sound of MD's earlier material, whilst 'Love Was Not Enough' is the first of two enchanting ballads, the other being the dreamful 'So Far Away from Home'. If you think the first half of 'Vanishings' is good, wait until you hear the second half. Two more Mackey solos appear, firstly on the fantastic 'I Wanna Know' and then on 'Fighting The Fire' which, to my ears, is near AOR perfection. 'Better Than No Hand' is not bad either, and the second of two songs from the 'Haunting...' EP is the spellbinding 'Still Haunting Me'. I don't usually care for instrumentals – especially on AOR albums – however, the bonus track 'Lost' is an enjoyable reminder of those eighties soundtracks; it could easily have featured in an old episode of 'Miami Vice'.

If you're a fan of eighties AOR, then don your shoulder-padded jacket, put on your mirrored shades, slick back your hair and go down to your local record store and order a copy of 'Vanishings'. Alternatively, leave the jacket in the wardrobe and go online and order yourself a copy today!

Mark Donnelly