EP Review: Blood Wizard - 'Lucky Life'
Blood Wizard’s free flowing experimental approach takes them into a new chapter.
One of the songs that I have been humming since I first heard it was Blood Wizard’s earworm Devil Dressed in Disguise, and ever since that memorable album and the now-legendary show at Sebright Arms with Truthpaste supporting; the project of Nottingham’s own Kagoule’s Cai Burns, has only gone from strength to strength; adding Faye Rita Robinson, Sebastian Buestone and Adrian Vitelleschi Cook to it for an outfit that’s as much about collaboration as creativity. Lucky Life is instantly fully formed, written in South London and dips into more experimental territory: “I’m just waiting for my lucky life to begin,” Burns says before the beat kicks in on lead single; and it quickly drifts into experimental territory that isn’t afraid to throw things at the wall and feel what sticks. “God’s gift I could turn this all around,” Burns sings – about the struggles and the constant belief that things no matter how bad they get will get better just around the corner someday.
The follow up to 2024 album Grinning William marks a new chapter for Blood Wizard; a bridge if you will, between what came before and what comes next. Daydreaming is the lead single – it comes last on the five-track record and taps into lyrics about being checked out and missing home “now I’m as homesick as seabirds and now I’m on my way home / I know what door I’ll be knocking on” the lyrics capture the allure of being caught again, daydreaming, in a daze that’s impossible to wake up from, thinking of someone else. It pairs wonderfully with the false optimism of Lucky Life and works as a perfect loop for the five tracks start and end.
Nestled in the middle of the record – I Know you Well, Lick the Big Star and Scared of the Dark are all hits. I Know You Well goes big early. There are comparison points to Echo and the Bunnyman all the way across this record – “you’ve got a lot to give / I want to take it all” is a contender for my favourite track of the record here, about the comfort of knowing someone too well but also being a leech on them. “But it seems like each time, we’re just out of line,” Blood Wizard start with this ideal relationship but quickly pull back the layers of what’s really going on as it becomes a lot more sinister; eventually accepting that the relationship between the two characters is spiralling apart despite trying to “make it still”; despite it all – they know each other too well to let it fade just like that. It’s a tremendous track – the spat-out vocals a brilliant pop rhythm that has just the kind of right biting edge to it.
Lick the Big Star builds and builds in a way that’s fascinating to watch – and Scared of the Dark almost “calling in the dark / I can hardly help myself / maybe I try too hard to the lyrics of Lick the Big Star, using the title as a way of forging optimism through both Cai and Faye’s vocals in perfect synchronisation – “counting the days until I’m up there,” about chasing the optimism that’s never really there – the way this just builds and builds is a thing of real beauty. Scared of the Dark confronts the fear of the unknown expertly: “what if heaven is joke?” Blood Wizard wonder.
This all adds up to a wonderfully brilliant release of an EP. Blood Wizard are a sonically gifted, free-flowing yet meticulous band that have possibly released their best work yet, building on what their past two albums have taught them to produce an album that feels like the result of the band’s collaboration at unmatched strength – each song just gets better and better across the EP; luring you in and keeping you there One time I might think I Know You Well is a favourite, the next Scared of the Dark, it’s impossible to really decide – and that’s a hallmark of a strong release.
Words by Miles Milton-Jefferies
