I can’t remember how I first found Magic Man. It was probably on an empty night when I had nothing better to do than spend several hours downloading every free track, EP and album I could find legally. I do remember the first time I listened to it though. I was on a mega bus to London one afternoon; the sun was burning through the window, the chemical toilet wafted through the coach and this record was the perfect escape.

Magic Man are Sam and Alex from Boston. They posted their debut record on bandcamp as a free download. It’s still up there too, ready for you to download and fall as hard in love with it as I have.

In terms of the music, think Passion Pit cloaked in the synth wash of M83 but with less confidence. And I mean that in a good way. There’s a real fragility behind these songs and it sounds like an album that’s been awarded a considerable amount of time and care. From the opening sounds of crackling vinyl to the ever-changing cascades of percussion to the diverse selection of keyboard tones, this album never gets boring.

Even in terms of song structure, Magic Man are inventive in the way they construct, demolish and rebuild their way from verse to chorus. It’s so far from formulaic; every time you feel a track rise it’s cut down with a drum break, an erratically placed middle eight, silence. Every song is filled with a new array of sounds and ideas.

Saying all this, I’m making the album sound like something of a challenging listen when it’s quite the opposite. There’s just this glorious overarching element to it that glues everything together and makes me feel warm every time I press play. It could be the pace, the majority of songs are steadied, slow, calming. And then there’s the vocals as well; a charming swathe of reverb coated melody that makes me think a little of Ben Gibbard. It wouldn’t be unfair to say that Real Life Color is what the Postal Service should have made after Give Up.

So, if you’re a Postal Service fan, you should check this out. If you’re a Passion Pit fan, you should check this out. In fact, if you’re a fan of all things fantastic, life affirming and beautiful, you should check this out. It’s the perfect escape, companion and find.