Strange Majik Gets Bewitched on New [Wave] Single “Queen of the Night”
In a follow-up to the grounded, gritty, and glamorous LP NYC Animal,* Strange Majik drops the new single “Queen of The Night,” proving with every release that he always has more tricks up his sleeve.
While Animal was a sonic love letter to the 70s, “Queen of the Night” enchants its listeners with the dark, lustrous aura of 80s new wave.
“Queen of the Night” makes quite the regal entrance, opening with Majik’s smooth falsetto layered over a French spoken-word snippet from Cristelle Croisile before bursting into an 80s synth pop-rock beat with a contemporary spin.
“Where, where do we go…from here?” Majik asks in the first verse, perhaps a callback to Guns N Roses’ “Sweet Child O Mine,” or simply an authentic question before his star-crossed lover draws him closer to the dance floor.
The instrumental captures the roof-bursting energy of 80s anthems and underground classics alike: Queen of the Night is the love child of Duran Duran’s “Hungry Like the Wolf” and Joy Division’s “Love Will Tear Us Apart,” with VHS Collection’s “The Black” pulsing through its heart.
The single paints a picture of a bewitching woman who’s as confident, electrifying, and unapologetic as they come — to quote Majik, “a splash of color in the black-and-white.” I envision her living on the LES, strutting down from her eclectically decorated studio apartment in a black mini dress and go-go boots, untamed brunette curls blowing wildly around her face as she applies blood-red lipstick in her compact mirror. She texts her friends that she’s 5 minutes out from the Bowery bars on foot. Her heart races with optimism and anticipation for what the night will bring, while her moves are at the mercy of what NY’s dance club DJs will spin.
Who will she meet? Where will she go? Only the night can tell. There’s only one thing for sure: She’ll be dancing after midnight.
By day, is she an executive director? A columnist at the Times? One of The New Yorker’s cover artists? Pitchfork freelancer? She could be any or all of the above, maybe moonlighting as another completely. By night, she’s more intoxicating than any cocktail, soaking up all the energy on the dancefloor around her.
Majik describes her as “a splash of color in the black-and-white,” “a star among the satellites,” and “she’ll be your friend ‘till the end.” She sounds like someone you’re lucky to have close, someone nearly everyone knows and wants to be friends with, maybe more. You can’t help but love her, and don’t try to tame her, lest you wish her to disappear without a trace.
She’s the diamond of the dance floor, scintillating under the spinning disco ball, entrancing everyone in the room around her, with Strange Majik so bewitched he immortalized her in a song.
*Want to learn more about the man behind the Majik? Read my review of NYC Animal here.
