Having released the first part of this project, the Venom EP, Ella Hooper is back to finish the job with the second half of her double EP, titled New Magic.

While the former was steeped in heartbreak and melancholy, its follow-up is a distinctly warmer, brighter conclusion to the tale that moves closer to ’90s pop.

There’s a lot of contrasting sentiment packed into the project, from an artist who’s been intimately involved with the music industry from a very young age. Ella has spoken with us about the meaning behind each track – from conquering mindless internal chatter, to weariness with the endless cycle.

Shard

This is a song-spell. It’s an invocation for a little space-clearing and head-resetting. It shifts the tone from my last EP Venom to a higher frequency so the band and I can bring in the new magic.

I love a good manly mumble chant, as featured in the chorus here. It’s very Roxy Music or something, but it’s actually Nic from Tyrannamen, not Brian Ferry, in there. Same difference, right?

Breakup Blonde

Haven’t we all expressed ourselves through a radical hair change at least once? And doesn’t it feel so effing good?! This is a song about being brash, dumb, daring and drunk. It’s about taking youth (or what’s left of it) by the horns and not being too precious with it.

This track was inspired by a bunch of young city girls I saw on a train one day whose beauty routines already looked to be that of middle-aged Toorak wives. They were polished beyond belief and I just welled up with gratitude for my crusty, dorky, give-anything-a-go teenage years with my girls.

Daily Detritus

One of my favourites, because it’s so simple. Simplicity is something I’m loving and exploring in my music at the moment. This song was written in minutes on my acoustic. I love that mid-late ‘90s chorus effect on the guitar (thank you Ben Lee, Breathing Tornadoes).

This song is about nostalgia. How a memory can be both beautiful and a burden, how the junk you leave behind after a breakup seems very alive for a while, imbued with all that stinking emotion, like “Aagh! His shaver/book/toenails!” and you’ll jump a mile at the sight of it, but then pretty soon it just becomes junk.

Monkey Mind

This is something my mum used to talk to me about as a kid, and try to help me with.  ‘Monkey Mind’ is the Buddhist term for the chittering, chattering untrained internal dialogue we hear in our heads 24/7 – driving us to yoga, to meditate, to jogging, to death metal, to sex, to drinking, to anything that can drown out the drone of our own inner radio station, which is sometimes stuck on a rather unhelpful, upsetting channel. Featuring my friend, album producer and New Magic band leader Robin Waters, on vocals.

Interust (The Slow Death)

I made up a word. ‘Interust’ is when you’ve lost interest and the rust sets in. There’s no faking it anymore. It’s the slump. You’re tired of your own story. Tired of singing sad songs… (er, sorry Venom!)

That’s actually a great place to be, when you realise you’re boring yourself silly and only you can change your life. It’s tough but empowering, which is the whole New Magic vibe really.

Ouroboros

I woke up to the rhythm and the melody for this verse in my head, and a vision of myself walking down the street in a gold-hued early morning mist, singing the song to my self. I got up, went out and did just that and finished the song.

It’s weird when your subconscious mind directs you so clearly. It’s nice. I like the feeling of my songs not touching the sides of my critical brain too much. For this batch anyway, it was very much about coming from the heart and capturing a feeling, more than a thought (take THAT ‘Monkey Mind’!)

The Ouroboros is the snake (sometimes dragon or lizard) eating its tail. Unending birth, death, rebirth. I love this symbol. But yawn. What else is there? Is that all there is? If that’s all there is to birth, death, rebirth, then let’s keep daaaancing… I guess I’m hard to please. Hah!

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