Artist: Among Legends
Album: Take Good Care
Single: Magnolia
Ontario’s pop punk 5-piece, Among Legends, has released their third single “Magnolia” (and a corresponding music video) off the band’s upcoming debut album Take Good Care. “Magnolia” is available anywhere you get your music and Take Good Care will be released on July 8th, 2022.
Of the single, vocalist Mitchell Buchanan says, “I’ve never bought into the version of breakups that we usually see in movies or hear in songs: dramatic, messy, one person clearly to blame. Magnolia looks at the bittersweet version of a relationship ending – the idea that sometimes people simply grow apart, even when they’re good together.”
“Magnolia” is a classic, upbeat, pop punk song—it reminds me of bands like Red Jumpsuit Apparatus or All American Rejects. The video centers on a couple, obviously very much in love (an interracial, queer couple—yay representation!), alternating between scenes of the couple interacting and the band performing. The video mostly shows the couple sitting on a couch and represents the relationships slow decline through the couple gradually sitting further apart, focusing on their phones instead of each other, and finally, the couch is empty. The video very clearly represents what the band was trying to express in the song—a bittersweet fact of life. “Magnolia” is catchy and relatable, while the video is just down-right cute. Among Legends did a great job!
The full album consists of thirteen tracks: Five Years; On The Line; Magnolia; Oceans; Come Up Swinging; 11318; Baywatch; Days Like These; Greyhound (featuring Madison Crombie); Rigged (featuring Shae); Manifesto; Monochrome; and Highrise Manner.
Take Good Care sticks to the same positive, pop punk vibes as “Magnolia.” While I find that some pop punk albums can begin to blend together after listening to too many songs in a row, I didn’t feel this way about Take Good Care. The album begins with “Five Years”—another bittersweet song about a relationship that’s holding on simply because of the couple’s long history together. “Oceans” is one of my favourite songs on the album, with lyrics like: “And I know I’ll be okay/When it’s hard to keep my head above these waves.”
I also really liked the addition of a female voice on the track “Greyhound (featuring Madison Crombie)” and “Rigged (featuring Shae)” features a surprising breakdown into a spoken word/rap that reminds me of artists like NF or Hobo Johnson. One of the last tracks, “Monochrome” showcases Mitchel Buchanan’s voice, opening with only melodic vocals and minimal guitar. I really enjoyed the opening lyrics, “No, I don’t blame you for taking time away/When I thought I could do this on my own/And I don’t blame you from needing your own space/But lately my world’s stuck in monochrome.”
Overall, I really liked “Magnolia” and the entirety of Take Good Care.
Check out Among Legends on their website, Facebook, and Twitter.