White Magic Dat Rosa Me Apibus CD

Personnel: Mira Billotte (vocals, guitar, melodica, piano, Fender Rhodes piano); Douglas Shaw (guitar, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, erhu, organ, percussion, gong); Chris Rael (sitar); Samara Lubelski (violin); Karen LeBlanc (accordion); Shahzad Ismaily (upright bass, electric bass); Tim Barnes (drums, percussion, bells); Tim Dewit, Jim White (drums).
Audio Mixers: TJ Doherty; Tim Barnes .
Recording information: Brooklyn Studios (2005-2006); Headgear Studios, NY (2005-2006); Joe Music (2005-2006); Pilot Studios, NY (2005-2006); Sear Sound Studios, New York, NY (2005-2006).
Arrangers: Douglas Shaw; Mira Billotte.
New York indie rock duo White Magic expand their sound on their sophomore release, DAT ROSA ME APIBUS (which is Latin for "The Rose Gives the Bees Honey"). The band is still dark, swirling, psychedelic, and introspective, but the layers here are deeper, and more carefully constructed. Clattering drums, chiming guitars, insistent rhythms, and hypnotic drones create a tapestry against which singer Mira Billotte places her unique and appealing voice. At times the album is whimsical and childlike, at others almost ominous, but there's a sense of deeper meaning throughout, from the Rosicrucian image on the front cover to the webs of music and wordplay on each of the 12 tracks.
White Magic's debut album, and first recording as the duo of Mira Billotte and Doug Shaw, stretches beyond the haunting indie folk of the Through the Sun Door EP to an eclectic, sometimes scattered, array of sounds. Dat Rosa Mel Apibus -- Latin for "the rose gives the bees honey," a metaphor for hard work and its rewards that dates back to the 16th century -- is an apt title for this collection of songs; it feels like Billotte and Shaw dug deep to expand the band's boundaries. When the album's ambitious moments work, they're undeniably exciting: "Hold Your Hand in the Dark" pairs a winding, medieval-sounding melody with tumultuous drums; "Palm and Wine" is oddly jaunty and sexy, like Peggy Lee singing a whimsical cabaret-folk number; and "Sun Song" has a witchy sense of drama. The duo also delves into the more mystical meanings of the album's title and beautiful packaging, which depicts the Rosa Mundi, a traditional Rosicrucian image: on "All the World Wept," Billotte asks, "What is creation?" over a droning sitar melody that curls like incense smoke; on "Childhood Song," she's philosophical: "All we are is a blooming rose growing above the weeds below." The band's stylistic risks don't always pay off, though. "Hear My Call" and the title track are lengthy without developing much, and the lumbering rhythms the band favors can become tedious. White Magic is still the most compelling when the focus is on Billotte's unique alto, as on the band's riveting version of the traditional ballad "Katie Cruel" and "What I See," both of which recall the focus and simplicity of Through the Sun Door. Dat Rosa Mel Apibus is a frustratingly uneven album, but its strongest moments suggest that White Magic's ambition and hard work will reap rewards eventually. ~ Heather PharesSpin (p.103) - 3.5 stars out of 5 -- "Soulfully assured, Billotte beguiles like a cat-powered Grace Slick reclining against a surrealistic, Fleetwood Mac-embroidered pillow..."
Magnet (p.112) - "[I]t sounds like a rickety tape reel away from convincing us that White Magic is, in fact, a stellar '60s group that history somehow missed."
CMJ (p.39) - "Frontwoman Mira Billotte is at the helm of every song, and her sinewy piano lines and caterwauling alto crawl along for the better part of an hour."