Cuddle Magic’s sophomore pop album, Picture, is a beautifully arranged and dense eleven tracks. The ensemble is made up of twelve musicians playing a variety of instruments (percussions, guitars, vibraphone, clarinet, strings), so each song is heavily layered. However, soft vocals and interesting sounds weaved into each song keeps Picture from being overwhelming.
“Expectations” is an unconventional love song about knowing someone is perfect and resisting being with them out of fear of failure. The back and forth of the lyrics is matched perfectly by a steady drumbeat, droning violins, and a plucking guitar. “Expectations” honestly puts the audience into the mind of this guy and doesn’t seek resolution.
“Paris/Happydent” leads with three and a half minutes of quirky percussion, strings, guitar, and keyboard arrangements. There might be a flute in there. The whole thing is odd and fun. The second half of the song is an existential journey of echoing voices and vibraphone chiming over their anchor, the bass clarinet.
Other notable songs include “Anyone” and “Say When.” Picture is an album that you can’t grasp on the first listen. There is just too much there. But if you commit the time to unpack it, the reward is a unique and intelligent surprise.
