RIP Magic – Screwdark
London four-piece RIP Magic, Marco Pini (Sorry), Felix Bayley-Higgins, Beth Boswell-Knight, and Pedro Takahashi, have signed to section1, the Los Angeles-based sister label to Partisan Records, and share their first single for it: “Screwdark”. It follows “5words”, their James Murphy-produced 12″ on DFA from January, which the band first introduced by selling unmarked white-label copies at their shows during LCD Soundsystem support slots late last year.
“Screwdark” was produced by RIP Magic with additional production from Buddy Ross. It opens with reverb and glitch before settling into something denser: orchestra stab samples, layered percussion, distorted vocals, a bass that sits low and doesn’t move much. The claustrophobic pulse of small club nights is still the reference point, but the track has more texture than their earlier material. The video, directed by Velcro and edited by Pete Phipps, was shot on tour.
The band have been moving fast. Early support came from Tyler, the Creator after he heard them DJing in London; since then they’ve played with Fcukers, Panda Bear, Chanel Beads, and LCD Soundsystem, and are currently mid-way through supporting Tame Impala on a sold-out arena tour of the UK and Europe. For a band barely a year old, the trajectory is hard to ignore. What I find interesting is how little any of that seems to have smoothed out the sound: “Screwdark” still feels like something made for a tight room at 1am, which is basically the right instinct to hold on to when the rooms keep getting bigger.
