Wizard Apprentice - “I Am Invisible”
Reviewed by Chano

Wizard Apprentice is a “digital folk artist” who writes some very thoughtful folk songs using cool keyboards and makes them sound really nice and warm with 4-track tape recording. Her vocals and songwriting stand out as very smart and thoughtful and have a cool relationship to almost “stock” sounding sounds from her keyboards. These songs would fit in great with a variety of genres - rock, folk, electronic music, experimental stuff, etc! Play one of these jams.

FCCs: None!
Favorites: 1, 2, 5, 6
RIYL: folk music, acoustic/electronic music, cheap keyboards and insightful lyrics.

1. “I Am Invisible” - 4:04 - Upbeat piano loop and assorted synths open it up and then drop out and WA is singing about being invisible, mediocre, anonymous - but it’s a celebration and not a downer. 2min in the singing drops out and some bleeps introduce the next section - funky bassline and drony pad and then the vocals come back in.
2. “Sensuality” - 4:02 - introspective synth loop, vocals, and cheap keyboard drum sounds start it off and get right into a jam about whether or not someone is “feeling it.” The title says it all about the lyrics, and the singing kind of goes between a more spoken cadence and more straight up singing. Very cool interesting thought provoking track.
3. “A Debt” - 7:18 - straight up vocals open up about “hurting someone badly.” Airy, ethereal chords swirl around while WA sings/recites lyrics. Big transition in vibe at 4:45 into the track and it gets groove with bassline and more keyboard kick drums; track ends with this groove.
4. “Our Head is Not Our House” - 1:54 - Cool lyrics about interdependent social relations? Moody keys and sparse synth sounds accompany the interesting lyrics. This is a cool little jam - I only wish it was a little longer!
5. “Research Stage of Love” - 5:21 - Soft keys drive the song and the spoken-sung lyrics are about a lover; guitars come in and add great dynamic; drums with echo come in almost 2min in. Empowering lyrics about being committed to self.
6. “As If” - 7:04 - Cool, mellow keys loop and have a more mellow vibe - not as moody as the other tracks. The vocals get effected in a way that feels different about halfway through. The lyrics are about love but also hallucinatory. About 4:20 in a distorted synth comes in and then some warm, low end keys take over as spaceship sounds calmly pan around. Keyboard noodling comes in at the end to wrap the track up.