The notion of music as magic is one that has long been expressed by listeners, musicians, and writers. Perhaps you’ve heard a piece of music that felt hypnotizing, elicited very distinct visions or feelings, or just did something so amazing that you felt like there had to be supernatural powers at hand. These reactions may come up when you listen to Spells, the captivatingly gorgeous debut EP by Los Angeles-based harpist and composer Nailah Hunter.
The release’s Bandcamp page describes each song as “a spell, a unique sonic place forged by imagination and incantation.” Hunter had this to say about the EP’s creation:
“It really started off with me just wanting to kind of reclaim the way that I thought about creating music and then also performing it. I was like, okay. I need to get back to the basics of why I like to create and what it does for me … so I set out to make spells, in the sense that each layer is one of the steps in incantation… It became about purpose… the procedure and the ritual, so that when it came to performing it, I wasn’t able to get into my head about it because I was just carrying out these steps. Each track is its own incantation, its own spell, its own world.”
The worlds she creates are incredibly vivid, and the album artwork, painted by Ianna Vasale, is a fitting depiction of these fantasy-like soundscapes that are cloaked in a bluish hue of nightfall. Verdant keyboard gardens are the space in which Hunter’s harp and voice float through. Birds, frogs, insects, and water sounds pop into earshot occasionally, making this conjured space even more evocative.
The transportive experience of listening to Spells has a way of bringing the mind to peace, which reflects the healing intentions behind Hunter’s work. She said in an interview with Voyage LA, “My art is about creating safe and lovely places for the mind, body, and soul to rest. My art is about reminding others of their capacity to be soft in a world that encourages & rewards the opposite.”
Experience the soothing power of Spells below and purchase the EP here.