Luke Temple's new MO? Downsize. Take a step back, take a night off.
Temple's made his way musically with solo work and as the brain behind Here We Go Magic, a sonic amalgam of prog-rock, pop, and psychedelic flair. After reaching a level of success that included working with Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich, Temple decided to simplify and write, perform, record, and produce a new Here We Go Magic record solely with long-time collaborator Michael Bloch. The result is Be Small, a collection of easy-yet-clever pop tunes. The album's been praised for its accessibility, and for Here We Go Magic fans that might feel like a red flag, but in this case, accessible doesn't mean watered down.
"I mean, accessibility is subjective," Temple says. "I live in a little strange world of people who listen to strange music, and the people I bounce things off might have a different relationship with the idea of accessibility. I don't think about accessibility in terms of demographics, I just happened to be interested in a certain kind of simple song structure when I was making that record."
Be Small is not just simple, though there are plenty of simple moments on the record. "Candy Apple" has a glam-campy element in the way the line "here in the New York City" stretches out like taffy. And the album has a strong, cyclical, chugging, '80s synth feel—not a modern polished or ethereal synth sound, but more like stacked colored Legos, where it's all blended together, with dents and flaws.
