For the first minute of "Magnolia" all you hear is Michael Cantor's voice, overdubbed using a harmonizer, the same effect used on the one Imogen Heap song that makes everyone cry. Cantor, who records as The Goodbye Party, is usually surrounded by peppy-yet-mopey indie rock, but on the 20-minute Stray Sparks EP he weaves ambient experiments into lowercase songs that recall the quirkier back half of the Smashing Pumpkins' Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. "Magnolia," with its pitch-shifted harmony, lays bare the winsome sadness of Cantor's sweet voice as "love rewinds itself." Then, like the pink and white flowers that bloom from magnolia trees, shimmering synths spring into high-definition, reflecting the awe of a new day.
Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
