{"id":45430,"date":"2026-05-23T12:15:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-23T16:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cultureaddicts.com\/?p=45430"},"modified":"2026-04-26T11:20:48","modified_gmt":"2026-04-26T15:20:48","slug":"magic-wands-cast-a-spell-with-new-ep-wishing-well","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cultureaddicts.com\/?p=45430","title":{"rendered":"Magic Wands cast a spell with new EP \u2018Wishing Well\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>US dream-pop duo Magic Wands have dropped their brand new EP, &#8216;Wishing Well&#8217;, out now on Metropolis Records \u2014 and it&#8217;s everything you&#8217;d want from a band with shimmer and shadow running through their DNA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The six-track release pulls together a rich mix of old and new: singles <em>Sacred Mirrors<\/em> and <em>Wishing Well<\/em>, a remastered version of 2024&#8217;s <em>Hide<\/em>, a remix of <em>Golden<\/em> from their 2025 album &#8216;Cascades&#8217;, plus two brand new tracks \u2014 <em>Starline<\/em> and <em>Yesterday&#8217;s Dream<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A Push and Pull Between Fear and Surrender<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Lead track <em>Starline<\/em> is one of those songs that gets under your skin. The band describe it as <em>&#8220;a push-and-pull between fear and surrender, burning like something you can&#8217;t quite hold&#8221;<\/em> \u2014 a meditation on longing, release and that pivotal moment of truth. It builds with growing emotional intensity until everything else falls away and there&#8217;s, as they put it, <em>&#8220;nothing left but love.&#8221;<\/em> Gorgeous stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/cqmPzl7LCnE?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-CA&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">John Ashton Steps In<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>One of the EP&#8217;s most intriguing moments is <em>Sacred Mirrors<\/em>, a collaboration with Psychedelic Furs guitarist John Ashton, who turns out to be a self-professed Magic Wands fan. He sent the duo an instrumental track, and they layered on additional guitar, keyboards, percussion, lyrics and vocals. The result feels like a natural meeting of minds across generations of atmospheric rock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The title track <em>Wishing Well<\/em>, meanwhile, comes with a lyric video and brings an insistent rhythm, swirling guitars and a hazy, hypnotic vocal \u2014 immediate post-punk meets shoegaze in the best possible way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureaddicts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/IMG_0688.jpeg?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureaddicts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/IMG_0688-1024x1024.jpeg?resize=1024%2C1024&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-45431\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureaddicts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/IMG_0688.jpeg?resize=1024%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureaddicts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/IMG_0688.jpeg?resize=300%2C300&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureaddicts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/IMG_0688.jpeg?resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 150w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureaddicts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/IMG_0688.jpeg?resize=768%2C768&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureaddicts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/IMG_0688.jpeg?w=1200&amp;ssl=1 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">&#8216;Wishing Well&#8217; Tracklist<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><em>Starline<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em>Wishing Well<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em>Sacred Mirrors<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em>Yesterday&#8217;s Dream<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em>Hide<\/em> (Remaster)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em>Golden<\/em> (&#8217;26 Mix)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Who Are Magic Wands?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Originally formed in Nashville and now based in Los Angeles, Magic Wands are Dexy and Chris Valentine \u2014 a duo with a signature sound built on heavily textured guitars, synth drones and ethereal vocals. Their music sits at the crossroads of shoegaze, dream-pop, post-punk and goth, conjuring an otherworldly atmosphere that&#8217;s all their own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Their current album &#8216;Cascades&#8217;, released in October 2025, explores transformation, reflection and the pull of distant horizons \u2014 a record steeped in the spirit of gothic romance, centuries-old poetry and myth. It bridges the sound of their 2012 debut &#8216;Aloha Moon&#8217; with their more recent work, and the press response has been glowing. Post-Punk called them &#8220;<em>a spellbinding blend of sound that feels both familiar and foreign.&#8221;<\/em> Spill Magazine went full candlelit ritual with it: &#8220;<em>Moody and atmospheric. For maximum effectiveness, listen to it at dusk with a single candle lit.<\/em>&#8221; Chain D.L.K. gave it 4.5\/5, calling it <em>&#8220;a slow, smoky invocation.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8216;Wishing Well&#8217; is out now on Metropolis Records. <a href=\"https:\/\/ffm.to\/wishingwellep\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Stream it<\/a>, buy it on <a href=\"https:\/\/magic-wands.bandcamp.com\/album\/wishing-well-ep\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Bandcamp<\/a>, and don&#8217;t be surprised if it soundtracks the rest of your spring.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>US dream-pop duo Magic Wands have dropped their brand new EP, &#8216;Wishing Well&#8217;, out now on Metropolis Records \u2014 and it&#8217;s everything you&#8217;d want from <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/cultureaddicts.com\/?p=45430\" title=\"Magic Wands cast a spell with new EP \u2018Wishing Well\u2019\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":45433,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[22,23,28,30,1907,5812],"tags":[5972,9985,7260,14047,741,12117,13673,925,1983,14046,14045,13150],"class_list":["post-45430","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-guitar-rock","category-indie","category-music","category-new-release","category-news","category-shoegaze","tag-cascades","tag-dream-pop-2","tag-goth","tag-john-ashton","tag-magic-wands","tag-metropolis-records","tag-new-ep","tag-post-punk","tag-psychedelic-furs","tag-sacred-mirrors","tag-starline","tag-wishing-well"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureaddicts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/IMG_0689.png?fit=1200%2C1001&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2B2TV-bOK","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":44420,"url":"https:\/\/cultureaddicts.com\/?p=44420","url_meta":{"origin":45430,"position":0},"title":"Magic Wands cast a spell with new single \u2018Wishing Well\u2019","author":"cultureaddicts","date":"March 4, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Dream-pop mainstays\u00a0Magic Wands\u00a0are back, and they\u2019re sounding more hypnotic than ever. Their brand new single\u00a0Wishing Well is out now via\u00a0Metropolis Records, and it\u2019s a hazy, heart-on-sleeve rush that lands somewhere between post-punk urgency and shoegaze bliss. https:\/\/youtu.be\/ryG8tGWLLeI?si=bHBrgSykOSpzypEZ Built on an insistent pulse, swirling guitars, and a vocal that feels like\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;guitar rock&quot;","block_context":{"text":"guitar rock","link":"https:\/\/cultureaddicts.com\/?cat=22"},"img":{"alt_text":"Magic Wands press photo","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureaddicts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/IMG_7123.png?fit=1134%2C756&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureaddicts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/IMG_7123.png?fit=1134%2C756&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureaddicts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/IMG_7123.png?fit=1134%2C756&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureaddicts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/IMG_7123.png?fit=1134%2C756&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureaddicts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/IMG_7123.png?fit=1134%2C756&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":44846,"url":"https:\/\/cultureaddicts.com\/?p=44846","url_meta":{"origin":45430,"position":1},"title":"Magic Wands\u2018 \u2018Moonshadow\u2019 gets the Delerium treatment and it\u2019s gloriously eerie","author":"cultureaddicts","date":"April 17, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"If you\u2019ve been sleeping on Magic Wands, consider this your wake-up call \u2014 delivered via moonlight, underground tunnels and a healthy dose of gothic atmosphere. 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We hope you enjoy this week's edition, and make sure to share and \/ or leave a comment if you like what we delivered to you this\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;music&quot;","block_context":{"text":"music","link":"https:\/\/cultureaddicts.com\/?cat=28"},"img":{"alt_text":"Music Video Addiction","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureaddicts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/music-video-addiction-gif.gif?fit=526%2C398&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureaddicts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/music-video-addiction-gif.gif?fit=526%2C398&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureaddicts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/music-video-addiction-gif.gif?fit=526%2C398&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":24643,"url":"https:\/\/cultureaddicts.com\/?p=24643","url_meta":{"origin":45430,"position":3},"title":"CFCF &#038; Jean-Michel Blais share &#8216;Hasselblad 1&#8217;","author":"cultureaddicts","date":"March 7, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Hasselblad 1 is the opening track from the new collaborative EP by pianist Jean-Michel Blais and electronic producer CFCF. \"This track constitutes the first improvisation we ever played together. 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