One day it may be hard to explain, but in 2013 the '80s are very much in style. Even indie-folk singer and Here We Go Magic leader Luke Temple has transformed his approach with cheesy synths, bouncy beats, and falsetto vocals that take the highlights of yacht rock, Miami Vice, and Billy Ocean and turn them into his drawing board. Said to have been recorded in a cabin in upstate New York with Dirty Projectors drummer Mike Johnson and Glass Ghost keyboardist Eliot Krimsky, Good Mood Fool features mellow textures that shouldn’t work as well as they do. Perhaps it’s because no matter how you mess with the arrangements—and they get seriously toyed with here—nothing stops a smart and funny songwriter from getting his twisted points across in songs as oddly captivating as “Katie” (a girl with “a mean body”) “Florida,” “Those Kids," and the metronome-fighting “Jessica Brown Findlay.” The silly Styx-Kansas vocal harmonies opening “Love Won’t Receive” might be too much for people who experienced the real thing.
More By Luke Temple
- 2019
- 2007
- 2023
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- Here We Go Magic
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