“Grand Canyon” is an apt title for this new track from Magnetic Ghost, as the song exudes a haunting spaciousness that’s probably best visually conveyed by the beautifully overwhelming sight of the steep-sided canyon. Minneapolis shoegaze/post-punk project Magnetic Ghost, the musical brainchild of Andy Larson, shows its atmospheric strength here. Ambient-tinged folk comprises much of the track’s first three minutes, with gentle guitar strums being accompanied by Larson’s distant vocals and a backing soundscape comprised of slight vocal samples and spacey synth pads. More distortion arises after the three-minute mark, giving way to a very satisfying developmental conclusion that shows Larson’s eclectic songwriting reach, with an audible appreciation for shoegaze, post-punk, kraut rock, freak folk, drone, and many variants. The result is what is aptly dubbed “urban psychedelia”, “inspired by the beauty and isolation of open spaces, and the creeping anxiety of the human drive to fill those spaces.”
