Speedfossil, the creation of singer/songwriter, Garret Vandermolen, is back with an all new single/video from their highly anticipated EP, ROOM WITH A VU, VOL. 1, that will be released in April of 2024. The new song, “Magic Trick” speaks to anyone who has ever suffered the loss of a good friend. The words have special meaning for Garret, because the song is his way of processing the loss of his friend, and one-time musical collaborator, Pat “Trick” Wallace, a beloved member of the Boston rock community, who died suddenly in January of 2023. Lyrically, the songs verses capture the universal feeling of loss when a friend dies: disbelief, sadness, isolation, tears, acceptance. The chorus yearns for a way to bring that person back to your world, if only there was some type of magic trick that could make that happen. In Garret’s own words:
“It’s really hard for me to put into words how despondent I was when I found out that Trick had died. He and I had just made plans to perform live together with some other artists at a tribute show to another departed Boston luminary, Asa Brebner. Trick was putting together the whole band and we were both pretty excited about it. After he died, I spent about a week or two in a pretty deep depression. I didn’t play any music, and didn’t really want to even go out and see anyone. One night, I finally went downstairs to my home studio and started noodling around on my Rickenbacker 12-string, and the chord changes just kinda came out in an instant. I started singing what I was feeling and recorded the basic idea on my phone as a voice memo called “Stricken”. These were the actual original words before I went back and honed the lyric structure to fit the melody:…struck down beyond belief, you’re alone with all your grief, no one seems to be getting through, they can’t even say two words to you: the way it goes when somebody dies, the only thing that anyone sees, are the tears in your eyes… I listened back to the voice note and then finished, honed and tightened up the verses. I had a melody for the chorus, but no lyric, and then the idea of the double entendre for magic trick came to me and the lyrics wrote themselves: I need a magic trick, so I can bring you back my friend-show me that magic, Trick, so you can make laugh again. Trick was FUNNY, ask anyone that knew him and they all have a story about how Trick made them laugh. He was the type of guy that everyone who knew him, thought he was their best friend - man I miss him. We recorded the song uptempo because I didn’t want it to be a dirge. Yes, it’s an exercise in processing grief, but we’ve got to keep going and honor the memory of our friends by putting a little of their spirit into our own – that is the magic trick. For the video, I worked for the first time with a new collaborator (who wants to remain anonymous) and asked him to just make a bed of images that he thought the lyrics evoked. He asked me some questions about Trick, that’s why you see the Wallace Scottish tartan at the beginning and end of the video, and some of the scenery is Scottish landscape (Trick was fiercely proud of his Scottish heritage!). I filmed myself singing the song from a few different angles and my collaborator edited that into his footage. It’s a beautiful video and the imagery, for me, evokes the feelings of the song”.
“Magic Trick” will be part of the new Speedfossil EP, Room With A VU, Vol. 1, coproduced by Speedfossil and David Minehan (Neighborhoods, The Replacements, Dink Pinkerman), and recorded and mixed at the room with a VU, David’s Woolly Mammoth studio.