ALBUM REVIEW: JR Wicker – ‘Weird Magic’

Over these last few years, and in fact heading back throughout his childhood, Atlanta-based artist JR Wicker has always been in pursuit of a more distinctive and original sound. Trying his hand at a multitude of diverse aesthetics and musical collaborations, he finally landed on a direction that he can call his own and has been busy building those foundations up recently. Now ready to introduce himself to the wider world, he releases his long-awaited debut album ‘Weird Magic’, a record that projects some wonderfully enigmatic ideas.

While many would try and squeeze this offering into some small niche such as psych-rock or indie-folk, the appeal of ‘Weird Magic’ comes from its almost unpredictable nature. Keeping a firm lid on his sprawling nature to deliver a brilliantly succinct and cohesive listening experience, this new eight-track collection comes together in a refined medley of shimmering guitar hooks and spellbinding vocals at every turn.

His tenure may have taken him across the US in search of something to connect with his own dynamic persona, but ‘Weird Magic’ shows that those years of trial and error were never in vain. JR Wicker emerges on the scene with some beautifully arranged offerings here, and cements himself as one of the more forward-thinking names to have arrived so far this year.