Magana Covers CHUCK’s ‘Oceans’

‘Oceans’ is a single from Brooklyn musician Magana. Originally by CHUCK, from his Frankenstein Songs For The Grocery Store LP, Magana takes the ache and hurt of ‘Oceans’ back to its core. Loose and frail, the melancholic refrain of “Pretty young girls, oceans of sound / It’s so annoying when you’re not around” rings in your ears well beyond the song’s scant running time. It’s a post-modern romance, filled with long days, long distance, self-care, self-destruction and deep expression through impersonal means.

Born in Bakersfield, California, Jeni Magaña grew up playing classical music on clarinet and upright bass before a move to Berklee College in Boston, where she began writing her own songs. Upon relocation to New York she began working with a variety of bands and even found herself recording a number of commercial jingles and working as a session musician, all the while developing her own sound. This eclectic route has shaped Magana as a musician and a songwriter and these experiences shine through. Her gift for creative, layered and genre-bending composition is so apparent. Her voice, full of ghosts, slips effortlessly from a whisper to a scream.

Magana recently issued her debut EP Golden Tongue on South London/ NYC’s Audio Antihero Records: a brief but breathless collection of brittle and erratic guitar pop. These beautifully weary songs, found acclaim and support all across the blogosphere and independent music press and radio, as well as here at Musos’ Guide.