James Keith goes all in on love with the big-hearted ‘I Call It Magic When I’m With You’

James Keith’s ‘I Call It Magic When I’m With You’ is an album that wears its heart openly and rarely apologises for the size of its feelings. Across its fourteen tracks, the Australian singer brings country-pop immediacy together with the scale of rock, building the record around bright guitars, big choruses and a husky vocal delivery that keeps the songs grounded even when the arrangements push towards something more expansive.

The album’s central subject is straightforward: love in all its stages. But rather than reducing that idea to pure celebration, he moves through the uncertainty that sits alongside it. Distance, doubt, outside opinions and the fear that something good might not last are all part of the story, giving the record enough contrast to stop its optimism from feeling one-dimensional.

‘Life Is (Still) Good Today’ sets the tone with buoyant guitars and an easy sense of momentum, while ‘Alive’ widens the sound through layered instrumentation, synth textures and larger, more anthemic choruses.

Focus track ‘Don’t Wanna Stop’ sits naturally within that world. Its strength comes from the way it celebrates the smaller details of a relationship rather than relying entirely on oversized romantic declarations. The song captures the feeling of finding something that has altered the rhythm of everyday life and wanting to remain inside that feeling for as long as possible.

Elsewhere, ‘Man I Was Meant To Be’ gives the album a slightly more introspective edge. The stronger rock influence and driving guitar work accompany a song about self-reflection, shifting the question from what love gives him to the kind of person he wants to become within it.

While ‘Sixteen Thousand’ is one of the record’s more personal moments. Featuring his girlfriend, the track blends acoustic country elements with Afrobeat-inspired rhythms, bringing two musical worlds together in a way that mirrors the relationship at the centre of the song.

But James Keith’s greatest asset throughout is his lack of cynicism. This is a record that believes love can be complicated without needing to become bleak. Even when uncertainty enters the picture, the prevailing mood remains one of gratitude and forward motion.

Big, melodic and unapologetically warm, ‘I Call It Magic When I’m With You’ finds James Keith turning a personal love story into a broad, hook-heavy country-rock record built to be shared loudly.