Syn­th­pop col­lec­tive Mag­net­ic Skies return with their sec­ond album, Frag­ments, coin­cid­ing with their first UK head­line tour.

Their 2023 debut, Empire Falling, estab­lished the band as con­fi­dent pur­vey­ors of cin­e­mat­ic syn­th­pop, mov­ing flu­id­ly between eupho­ria and melan­choly. On Frag­ments, they build on that foun­da­tion with a sharp­er focus and a broad­er sound, push­ing their 80s-inspired dra­ma and atmos­phere to new heights. The Bru­tal­ist build­ing on the album cov­er mir­rors the record’s stark and reflec­tive mood.

Front­man and song­writer Simon Kent describes Frag­ments as an attempt to make sense of “the deep-set cracks in today’s world.” That theme of dis­con­nec­tion and unease runs through the record, but it’s bal­anced by a per­sis­tent search for hope and light.

Open­ing instru­men­tal No End sets a cin­e­mat­ic tone, its doomy synths and sweep­ing ambi­ence inspired by Pol­ish film­mak­er Krzysztof Kieślows­ki. Mid­way through the album, Can You Feel the World? shares that mood with omi­nous per­cus­sion and echo­ing vocals.

Mag­net­ic Skies bal­ance sleek, glacial synths with emo­tion­al immediacy

A Place on Earth, pre­vi­ous­ly released as a sin­gle, cap­tures the band’s knack for emo­tion­al con­trast – a wist­ful track yearn­ing for a place of peace and belong­ing. Lat­er, Back to Life is stand­out track, with a shot of melan­choly at the heart of Simon Ken­t’s emo­tion­al­ly charged lyrics: “We are made of stars / we are mete­or show­ers / los­ing all con­trol / emp­ty out the soul.” The lyrics reflect an envi­ron­ment that is feel­ing increas­ing­ly dis­con­nect­ed, and dares to offer a lifeline.

Every­thing’s Alright is the most upbeat song. ‘This track cap­tures the feel­ing of being present, of love, and reclaim­ing joy,’ says Simon. ‘A euphor­ic, pos­si­bly nos­tal­gic moment where life feels whole again.’ It’s a euphor­ic pow­er­house with a puls­ing bass and those soar­ing vocals from Simon. Key­board play­er Jo Womar takes the bridge’s lead vocal for a warm, mes­meris­ing duet.

Across the album, Mag­net­ic Skies bal­ance sleek, glacial synths with emo­tion­al imme­di­a­cy and cre­ate a sound that man­ages to be both retro and cur­rent. Frag­ments con­firms the sol­id foun­da­tions of this band who have suc­ces­ful­ly side­stepped the ‘dif­fi­cult sec­ond album’ syn­drome with this tri­umphant col­lec­tion of songs.

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Frag­ments by Mag­net­ic Skies release date 7th Novem­ber. Stream it here