"Magic" is a song performed by New Zealand recording artist Ladyhawke, released as the fifth and final single from her debut album '' Ladyhawke'' (2008). It was produced by

Pascal Gabriel Pascal Gabriel (born 15 December 1956) is a Belgian-born musician based in London, England and Provence, France. Background Pascal Gabriel's musical career began in 1977 in the punk rock band The Razors (bass guitar). He left Belgium for Lo ...

who co-wrote the song with Ladyhawke herself. The song was inspired to be a fantasy epic and love song. Lyrically, it tells a story about trying to coax someone over to talk to you, where in reality you feel alone. "Magic" received critical acclaim with most critics giving the song positive reviews. The single peaked at number thirty-one in New Zealand, becoming her second most successful single and third top forty hit there to-date. It was accompanied by a music video, directed by Shelly Love and released on September 30, 2009.

Background and writing

The song was written by Ladyhawke and

. Ladyhawke wrote the song when she first went to London and she didn't know anyone. She describes it as a fantasy epic where she has someone and she is trying to coax them over to talk to her, where in reality she felt alone. She also says it is a love song, but also a 'pining' song.

Critical reception

"Magic" received positive reviews from contemporary critics.

Jude Rogers Jude Rogers (born 1978) is a Welsh journalist, lecturer, arts critic and broadcaster. She is a music critic for ''The Guardian'' and also regularly writes features and articles for ''The Observer'', ''New Statesman'' and women's magazines such a ...

of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' called the song a widescreen electronic epic, feeling that it may be the best opening track on any album for 2008. Nadine O'Began from ''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spin (physics) or particle spin, a fundamental property of elementary particles * Spin quantum number, a number which defines the value of a particle's spin * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thr ...

'' also positively reviewed the song: "The juddering 'Magic' recalls New Order but pulses with an addictive grandeur of its own." While

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's Ben Norman felt that it was a mostly understated track with brilliant lyrics and a haunting harmony.

Chart performance

"Magic" debuted on the

New Zealand Singles Chart The Official Aotearoa Music Charts, formerly the Official New Zealand Music Chart (), is the weekly New Zealand top 40 singles and albums charts, issued weekly by Recorded Music NZ (formerly Recording Industry Association of New Zealand). The M ...

at number thirty-one on 12 October 2009, before slipping seven places to number thirty-eight. It repeated this pattern, before falling off the chart, having spent four weeks in the top forty.

References

External links

Ladyhawke - Magic: Behind the Scenes
on

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{{Authority control 2009 singles Ladyhawke (musician) songs Songs written by Pascal Gabriel 2008 songs Songs written by Ladyhawke (musician) Modular Recordings singles