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| Irish-born indie artist Oisin Magee, known by the stage name 'sanchez.' / Courtesy of sanchez. |
By Daniel J. Springer
It might seem more than a tad paradoxical to say that a debut album contains several stylistic changes for an artist just making his way, but for Irish-born indie artist Oisin Magee, this is indeed the case.
Working under the moniker "sanchez." since 2020, the Gwangju-based singer-songwriter has been releasing a steady stream of standalone singles since, mostly in the vein of what could be roughly described as an indie folk sound with just a coloring of rock thrown in the mix. With the release of "Knock Them Down" on Jan. 5 along with the follow-up single "Bethlehem" out today, the artist has announced "Burgundy," his debut studio album.
As to the stylistic departures on the record, it does take a good cast to make the crowd sing along, and it's no different with "Burgundy."
The album as a whole features a virtual village of musicians from around Gwangju and the world, with piano maestro Kamen Ross, guitarist Jon Amey and South African vocalist Lizz Kalo amongst others all making their audio impacts felt. However, the true star of the backroom making literally 90 percent of the magic happen on the 11-track album is long-time rocker-turned-producer Dan Lloyd, whose presence and arrangements can be felt on all but one of the songs, the exception being "Sadness (Never Felt So Good)" being produced by Kindle Records' Andrew Vlasblom.
Explaining to The Korea Times, Magee stated, "[Lloyd] provided the drums, almost all the bass and even some guitar parts. This man is a genius." And that "genius" in the booth is basically the nexus of controlled chaos on some of the harder percussive and rock elements on this album.
However, Lloyd himself is the first to point out that the main element is Magee throughout the record. "I think the main thing that sets [Magee] apart from the dozens of musicians I've met here is his talent as a songwriter." Having listened to each of the tunes he's credited with producing on the record hundreds if not thousands of times, he goes on to note, "It says a lot that I still really enjoy listening to his songs."
Lloyd runs his own studio up on the slopes of Mount Jiri which is on a family estate, and he and Magee have been working on the record over the past year-plus. While praising his chief producer to no end, Magee also hails the key contributions of Amey on guitar and Ross' piano work. While Ross' work on the keys is to be expected from the latter, Magee also adds a bit of a surprising detail, saying, "Where Kamen's star really shone brightest was their backing vocals. Those are a key feature on this album, for sure, and added to the overall sound tremendously."
With lyric videos and visuals to be released for each tune both before and after the release of "Burgundy" in full on Feb. 16, one might wonder how all this is getting made on a mere shoestring budget, although to call the money available for production "shoestring" might even be an overestimate. Acknowledging it might be more than a bit of a constraint, Magee said all it took was "a handful of makeup and a head full of dreams."
Well…and a camera, at least.
While the people involved in the project on the visual front admittedly possess "varying degrees of professionalism," the lead single "Knock Them Down" has a video that is an interesting montage of just public domain images.
Magee explained, "I had an idea of using old public domain footage to try to tell a little story of my journey. Though it may seem like a bunch of random vintage commercials and educational videos, to me it contains a pretty cool narrative. The beauty of these things is their subjectivity, so I'll be interested to hear others' interpretations of the piece."
And that leisurely come-what-may attitude on this record is a bit of what makes it different. While the contributions of the many artists involved have given the record more focus overall, the vibe is totally different from his previous works, and even track to track.
"I chose to savor the experience this time," said Magee, 27. "As a younger vagabond, I often got impatient and rushed everything. I had a desire for everybody to hear me. This record has been different, however. I'm doing this one for me."?
Of course, one should not confuse such an attitude with laxity. There's a maturity far beyond his years to this now fully grown "vagabond," with producer Lloyd noting, "He's very aware of his strengths and weaknesses and is very open to other people's ideas and opinions, which makes him a real pleasure to collaborate with."
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| Irish-born indie artist Oisin Magee, known by the stage name 'sanchez.' / Courtesy of sanchez. |
For a totally DIY album overall, "Burgundy" offers an impressive array of styles and forms. While the indie folk ethic from previous works is still there, what sets this album apart is when Magee breaks his previous mold with tunes that are straight-up hard rock, like "Paranoid" or "Little Bird," which features a spacious upbeat arrangement punched up with a beautiful backing of female vocals and a brass section.
So far from home and with so many people involved, how does the artist feel about the process of being here and making a record?
"The people I've met here [in Korea] have certainly influenced my work," Magee stated in succinct summation. "However, I think getting away from Ireland has given me a chance to grow in confidence and explore the songs more honestly. I've written a lot here, sure, but I've also been given space to perform more regularly thanks to places like Speakeasy (RIP), Nirvana and Dreamers."
"Burgundy" by sanchez. will be available everywhere Feb. 16.
Visit Instagram @sancheztunesofficial or linktr.ee/sanchez.tunes for more information, or find sanchez. on Spotify or YouTube.
