Our old friends, The Magpies, return to get our Christmas season off to a joyful, atmospheric, start with their new single, Midnight Oil.

Release Date: 29th November 2024

Label: Gilded Lily Records

Format: Digital

Christmas trees might have been on display in Sainsbury’s since September and the jazzed-up carols have been blasting out through the stores’ PA systems for at least a month, but we just ignore all that stuff, don’t we? But, when our old friends, The Magpies, release their Christmas single, then – perhaps – it’s time to sit up and accept that Christmas really is on the way. And, when the impending arrival of the festive season is heralded by a song as beautifully structured and executed as Midnight Oil, then the message is clear – it’s time to celebrate.

The Magpies are: singer-songwriters Bella Gaffney (guitar and banjo) and Ellie Gowers (guitar), and tunesmith Holly Brandon (fiddle) and their stock in trade is a bright, fresh, brand of Anglo-Americana, tinged with hues of bluegrass, Celtic and Appalachian influence, all proudly infused with their own special threads of feminism. We loved their most recent album, Undertow (2022), calling it “a skillfully balanced and much-needed shot in the arm,” and, plunging even deeper into times passed, we were moved to acknowledge The Magpies’ place amongst “…the finest folk groups in the land,” when we reviewed their debut album, Tidings (2020).

In their own words, The Magpies describe new single, Midnight Oil, as a song that “…follows in the spirited tradition of seasonal favourites by The Pogues and Kate Rusby; Midnight Oil captures the bittersweet feeling of being alone over Christmas.” ‘Bittersweet’ isn’t the word that immediately comes to mind, though, as Midnight Oil strikes up.

Built upon Bella’s banjo figure and some discrete fiddle tones from Holly, Midnight Oil is bright and mellow from the get-go. The vocals are delightfully intimate, the vocal harmonies are deliciously calming and: just TRY, if you can, to resist tapping your feet and clapping along to those uplifting fiddle breaks. It’s impossible, isn’t it?

Midnight Oil is beautifully structured and beautifully executed, a joyful, atmospheric song, awash with Christmassy Canadian winter scenes and fiddle, guitar and banjo are perfectly balanced. “Light up the lamp – here’s a spark. The Midnight Oil in the dark.” Christmas time is here, by golly!

And – hot news

Fresh off the back of their UK and EU Autumn Tour, The Magpies will be performing four special winter shows this Christmas at:

12th December: The Cluny, Newcastle

13th December: Bijou Cinema, Southport

14th December: Black Dyke Mills, Bradford

15th December: The Hive, Shrewsbury

Tickets for the shows are available here.

And that’s not all… Rumour has it that The Magpies have a new EP in the pipeline, for release in 2025. The band are taking pre-orders now and you can stake your own claim for a copy here.

Get a feel for what The Magpies are all about – watch the official video to I Will Never Marry – a track from the band’s acclaimed 2022 album, Undertow – here:

The Magpies online: Official Website / Facebook / Instagram / YouTube / Bandcamp

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