Here's a new good song: "Don't Kill The Magic" by Magic! (also stylized as MAGIC!). This group currently has the No. 1 song in the U.S. on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, "Rude." I discovered "Rude" in December 2013 when it was lingering on the lower part of the U.K. singles chart, and think it is one of 2014's best songs. "Don't Kill The Magic" is a follow-up, which at first I found pleasant and nicely written but not particularly special. But it has grown on me very much over the past two months.
As I have mentioned several times, I believe that the beginnings and endings of songs are essential to their goodness or badness, and in modern music the introductions and conclusions are often given short shrift. Especially endings, which are often disappointingly abrupt (example, "The Only Ones" by Deluka, featured in the previous post -- an absolutely excellent song with a very poorly thought-out, sudden ending). Great endings offer some element of surprise and closure, perhaps an interpolation of what came before, a twist on the lyrics, an un-foreshadowed major-to-minor key change, etc.
My favorite aspect of "Don't Kill The Magic" is the ending -- the final 22 seconds or so (from 3:09 to 3:31 in the clip below) where the song breaks down to its percussion and piano foundation and background-vocal hook and tenderly fades away. A great ending like this leaves you feeling more moved by a song, sorry to hear it end. I wish more acts
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