The Magic Numbers’ debut was one of the albums that can lay claim to soundtracking the summer of 2005. A festival favourite and radio playlist staple, their second album is jam-packed with harmonies and breakneck guitars.  

 

It’s raining in Notting Hill. It’s dark and gloomy and the wind is quite literally howling down Queensway. It is therefore a relief to eventually find my destination of a small flat above a busy, but not especially trendy west London boozer. Here I sit and wait on a lonely kitchen table while a photographer fiddles with bright lights and dingy sofas, trying to make sure everything is just right before the band put in an overdue appearance. Eventually The Magic Numbers arrive, smiling and friendly, apologetic for making people wait and seemingly happy to chat all about themselves, the craziness of the past year and the imminent release of their new album. With formalities aside, the band take their place on the sofa, and in-between sipping glasses of water, proceed to talk like I am the first journalist they have spoken to in months. Unless I was planning on mentioning Richard Bacon, this was never going to be a particularly difficult interview.

 

Sitting in front of me are two pairs of brothers and sisters. The Stodarts, Romeo and Michelle and the Gannons, Sean and Angela. The former siblings moved to London from New York when Romeo was 16 and met the Gannons through school and general neighbourly appreciation. A significant age gap between the elder brothers and their younger sisters is evident both in facial appearance and outward mannerisms. Romeo and Sean are more commanding, more confident and appear to take the lead in the questions. Michelle and Angela are initially more inclined to let their brothers do the talking, nodding or gently asserting agreement before adding something previously overlooked or disregarded. It is clearly a natural dynamic that may have helped The Magic Numbers avoid the egotistical bickering that sometimes occurs in close knit groups. You see, however much the band would probably deny it, The Magic Numbers would not be where they are today without chief writer and guitarist Romeo. And thus, when I ask how it all started, it is Romeo who is first to respond.

 

“When we moved to London we went to school with Sean and Angela’s other brother and sister and we all became friends. Then I saw Sean play in a band and I thought he was really cool to hang out with. And he stole my drinks one Christmas Eve.” Cue Sid James laughter from Romeo and a knowing look of recognition from Sean. “But the thing is,” Romeo continues, “we just hit it off and started playing together, going through loads of different band members for about 11 years. It was just something that we had a passion for and we just loved music, loved the same bands. We’ve seen no other thing that we wanted to do in our lives.” I ask Sean whether there was at all an element of wanting to hang out with the cool American kid when Romeo strolled into his life? “I don’t want to say that,” he winces, “but you just might have something there. He had long hair; there weren’t a lot of people around with long hair and beards at that time and I just thought, ‘yeah, he looks cool, I’ll hang out with him.’ Of course I let him hang out with me as well.”

 

Soon enough, the younger sisters wanted in on the act and through a combination of regular appearances at gigs, singing at various weddings and family jam sessions, The Magic Numbers formed as the band they are today. “It just kind of evolved,” Romeo informs me, “It wasn’t something we ever thought about, the four of us being in a band together, but when it did happen it was like ‘hey, we should have thought about this a bit sooner’.”

 

It all came together perfectly last year though. Hit singles like ‘Forever Lost’, ‘Love Me Like You’ and ‘Love’s A Game’ helped their self-titled debut album reach number seven in the charts. A nomination for the Mercury Music prize soon followed where they were listed amongst an exceptionally strong line-up that included albums from bands such as Coldplay, Bloc Party, Kaiser Chiefs, The Go! Team and of course, the surprise winner, Antony and the Johnsons. I ask the band whether they felt they deserved the acclaim and the plaudits that were heaped upon them from the industry magnates as well as from the public? Romeo certainly thinks so. “I think in terms of the albums that came out last year it’s got to be in there as one of the best ones, if not the best one,” and although this comment generates embarrassed laughter from the rest of the group, it is a comment Romeo is at pains to justify. “Some good albums came out, a lot of new kind of things, but in terms of the music we’re making, when it came out last year everyone viewed it as ‘wow, this is a different sound,’ especially because at times everyone tries to do the same thing. I think what we were doing, and what we’ve always done and we will continue to do, is do our own thing and hopefully remain unique.”

Unique or not, something that all the class of 2005 have had to learn to deal with is new found fame and attention. I ask the band what has changed; what life is like now that they are no longer trying to make it and they actually have made it. Michelle seems keen to answer. “I think it’s really awkward when you’re with someone who actually knows you really well and then you have someone just screaming your name down the street. You’re just caught in this non-realistic world and you have to pinch yourself and think, Jesus, there’s someone there I don’t know, calling my name.” Angela then highlights a practical problem as well as a psychological one. “It’s always an awkward one, because if they do actually know you and you have met them before and you don’t remember, well, you feel kinda bad.”

But it can’t be helped. At present, the band live in a constant whirlwind of faces and questions, everyone wants an interview, and everyone wants their little piece of The Magic Numbers. Do they ever feel like they are being pulled in too many places; that they are no longer in control? “It’s weird when you get a stream of interviews,” explains Angela, “you just get put in a cab and they know where you are going and you haven’t got a clue. The last two weeks we’ve been getting into cabs and none of us have known where we are going.” I wonder if they feel tired with the media rollercoaster and the constant touring? “It’s a different kind of tired,” replies Sean. “Travelling really knackers you in a weird way. You get on a plane for an hour and you’re just sort of hovering. I think being up that high in the air in a tube is just not natural.” “Everyday is so unpredictable,” Romeo adds, “you don’t know where you are going to be, who you are going to meet. It’s kinda mad.”

 

But a little bit of madness in your life is simply the price of fame and success, something The Magic Numbers may have to deal with on a greater scale if their new album is as successful as the first. Recorded over the summer in a hidden location in upstate New York, ‘Those The Brokes’ is the sound of a band that know each other inside out and have musically grown together over the past year. “We did the record because we thought we were on fire,” explains Romeo, “we were playing strong as a band, really tight, we were blown away by the songs and blown away by the opportunity we had been given to go somewhere for six weeks, hole up residentially and just do our thing.”

 

This time around, doing their thing involved producing the album themselves, albeit with the aid of their former associate on the debut release, Richard Wilkinson. “We very quickly established a good working relationship with Richard where it was very hands-on,” clarifies Romeo. “We found someone who was prepared to be there when we wanted to work till six or seven in the morning. It was all about finding someone who was able to give his all.” Did he become a fifth member of the band? “Almost yeah,” states Sean. “You need to trust the person and the person does need to come into the circle, or it just will not work.” Romeo has a fuller explanation. “Basically for us, if you know what you want, you’ve got to do it yourself, and that applies to everything. Me and Michelle worked our asses off till it sounded like it did in our heads. We really wanted to capture something special in that room, especially on the vocal tracks, much more so than the first album. It was definitely a liberating experience.”

 

It seems that the development in recording style has coincided with a development in the group’s musical output as well. I ask Romeo whether the stuff he has written about for the new album has moved away from the topics of the first album? “I think the first album lyrically drew from a relationship that ended and the idea of finding love again, dealing with those feelings really. This one deals with questions unanswered. I think it’s actually quite confused in some ways because that’s how I have felt for the last year. Sometimes when your big dream comes true and your living a life that is everything you’ve ever lived for, you still at the same time want to find contentment in other areas. You can be happy about one thing but you’re always wanting more and there’s a yearning of just wanting to know what it is you are searching for.”

 

And when you listen to the new album, you would have to agree. The sound has moved on dramatically from the first offering. The debut was all about the feel-good factor on warm summer days, about being in love, splitting up, but generally feeling optimistic and happy about life’s progress. As Uncut magazine described the band on the release of their album: “They understand, like The Beach Boys before them, that the best way to soundtrack a broken heart is to drench it in sunny, three-part harmonies.” However, the new album, although still uniquely The Magic Numbers, is far less clear-cut. The lyrics reflect a confused, less optimistic frame of mind, whilst the music itself has moved into darker, less shiny areas. Whereas on the first album it was conceded that “love is just a game,” after a few listens to the new record it becomes apparent that the band are questioning whether it is a game still worth playing.

 

Take, for example, the first track, ‘This Is A Song’. It has a typical Magic Numbers introduction and verse, cheerful, almost country-style guitars with harmonies and lyrics seemingly concerned with the bright, embarrassed side of love: “I don’t want to tell her I lie awake in the dark” runs a typical lyric. But then something unexpected occurs. The song builds into a dark and almost haunting sound. “I don’t wanna hear it, don’t wanna hear it,” repeats the refrain, almost agonisingly cried at times. These are dark, but beautiful harmonies. In fact you could almost describe it as slightly sinister, making you think that the earlier line, “baby look over your shoulder, you’re not alone” is not a typical line of reassurance but is in fact a warning of danger. Instances such as this are frequent throughout the album. Thus, confusion and doubt runs through ‘Those The Brokes’ in a way few could have expected after the success of the shiny-happy debut release.

 

There is also a change in the role that the girls play on the new record. On the first release it could easily be argued that although Michelle and Angela’s voices contributed to the sound of the band, they were not vital components in the overall composition of the songs. On the new record it has all changed. Michelle and Angela’s harmonies do not only complement Romeo’s melodic musings, they are an integral part of the melody. They have also taken the lead on a number of tracks. As a result, the album sounds bigger, tighter and less whiney than the first offering. It is thus altogether a more substantial body of work. However, do they think they have achieved what they set out to when they entered the studio earlier this year? “We wouldn’t have put it out if we hadn’t,” replies Angela. “That’s the main thing with us, always to be happy with what we’re putting out.”

 

So are The Magic Numbers here to stay? The band themselves certainly think so. “Without a doubt,” Romeo insists. “Stopping playing and settling down is not an option.” “The interviews might fade and maybe the photographers will fade away,” concedes Michelle, “but I think we’ll always want to bring out albums and that will make us stand the test of time.” And with that the band are whisked off for a pre-photoshoot change of outfit and a post-interview round of cigarettes. However, before he leaves, Romeo has something important to clear up. “We just want to enjoy it though man, it’s there to be enjoyed isn’t it?” You can tell that from the constant giggles and smiles that it certainly is.

 

 

 

Words: Simon Cooper