By Keith Walsh
Long before rock and roll emerged from jazz, gospel and rhythm and blues, claims have been made about witchcraft as a supposed power behind the music industry. On her campy new album Hex, singer/songwriter Margot Day of Metamorph embraces the stigma of witchery with unapologetic style. (My new interview, where she explains her philosophy in depth, is at Popular Culture Beat dot com).
Fortunately for her foes, Day’s brand of conjuring is limited to white magic and love spells. With excellent beats and production by Erik Gustafson (Adoration Destroyed, Grendel) and the backing of Distortion Productions, Metamorph have created a uniquely charming set of 8 songs and three remixes.
Across the album Hex and its videos (created by Gustafson and his wife Eva X), the style is theatrical, with dramatic, exaggerated baubles and gestures on display.
From the album’s opener “Veridia” there are audible antecedents in Siouxsie And The Banshees, and indeed, Day’s own The Plague, with which she bewitched clubgoers in the concrete jungle of NYC in the 80s and 90s. The single “Witchlit” is a little earworm and a love spell, while the title track is bouncy electronic tune with a strong disco beat.
“Woo Woo” is another lighthearted earworm with effective, trippy vocal processing in the very catchy chorus, and lyrics by Day’s daughter Julifer. The flute performances by Margot are also quite cool. “Raining Roses” is a darkly sweet love song about sticking together to endure hardship (Day and her husband just celebrated their 35th wedding anniversary yesterday.) At times the songs lean into the dark side, without much sweetness, especially “Broken Dolly,” and “Whore Spider,” with lyrics by Julifer. However, it is on these darker songs I hear a thematic and sonic return to music of Day’s goth rock band The Plague. A song of enchantment and love’s survival, “Wasteland Witch” features background vocals by Julifer.
The three remixes that complete the album are very effective. They are “Woo Woo – Assemblage 23 Remix,” “Veridia – Grendel Remix,” and “Woo Woo – Moris Blak Remix.” In my new interview with Margot Day, she tells me that these mixes are “a dream come true.”
HEX Links
Interview With Margot Day
Metamorph On Bandcamp
Margot Day dot com
Metamorph On Facebook
Distortion Productions
Adoration Destroyed On Bandcamp
EG Cine (Video Production By Erik Gustafson)
finis
