Magic (Kylie Minogue song)

On 21 July 2020, media outlets reported that Kylie Minogue was preparing to release her fifteenth album Disco in the second half of 2020.[3] Following the release of "Say Something", the album's lead single, on 21 September, Minogue used her social media platforms to reveal the name and artwork of the second single, titled "Magic".[4] The cover features Minogue in a retro and technicolor close shot.[5]

The song debuted on The Zoe Ball Breakfast Show on 24 September,[6] and was released onto music services at 8am BST, the same day. The song was released as a single edit, while the album cut alongside "Say Something" appeared with the track on streaming services.[7][8] The singer promoted the single while doing an interview for Smallzy's Surgery programme, on Australian radio station Nova 96.9.[9] The Purple Disco Machine remix of "Magic" alongside its extended version was released on 9 October.[10] A 7" vinyl of the song, along with "Till You Love Somebody", a track included on the deluxe edition of Disco, will also be launched on 6 November, worldwide.[11]

"Magic" is a disco and pop song;[1][2] the album version has a length of four minutes and ten seconds, while the single version lasts for three minutes and thirty-four seconds.[12] Minogue co-wrote the song with Michelle Buzz and Teemu Brunila alongside its producers Daniel Davidsen and Peter Wallevik, collectively known as Ph. D.[13][14] Davidsen and Wallevik also provided the drum programming and served as the song's engineers; the former also played the guitar, while the latter was responsible for the keyboards.[15] "Magic" features an instrumentation consisting of horns, "funky" strings, "celebratory" handclaps, and staccato keys.[16] Joey Nolfi of Entertainment Weekly described Minogue's vocals as "light-as-a-feather" and noted that the song is a "vintage homage to the groovy glitz and dreamy glamour of 1970s dance floors."[16]

"Magic" is a "cheery" song; lyrically, it provides a hopeful message of a brighter future.[16] According to Jackson Langford of MTV Australia, in the song, Minogue makes the listener believe that in every tragedy, there's a solace, "She grabs you by the hand, whether you want to or not, and forces you to breathe in, take a look at the stars and dance."[17] It begins with Minogue singing the lines, "I feel like anything could happen, the stars look different tonight" before transitioning to the chorus, "Dancing together, ain’t nothing that could be better. Tomorrow don’t matter, we’ll make the night last forеver — so, do you believe in magic?"[14] Idolator's Mike Wass called the song a "three and a half minutes of pure happiness".[14]

The music video was filmed at the Fabric club in London.

Minogue revealed in an interview with SiriusXM that the track's music video was directed by English director Sophie Muller,[31] who had previously shot the video for "Say Something". It was filmed at Fabric, a nightclub in Farringdon, London.[32] The video was produced by Chris Murdoch and Juliette Larthe.[31] It premiered on 24 September, on Minogue's official YouTube channel.[33] It features Minogue dancing in the club alongside several dancers and sitting on a throne while wearing a golden jumpsuit. According to her, although Fabric was closed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, she wanted "to give fans a moment of escapism to celebrate on a fantasy dance floor."[34] Josh Martin of NME labeled the video as "vibrant".[5]

Minogue performed the song on The Zoe Ball Breakfast Show and The Graham Norton Show on 6 November 2020.[35][36] The next day, she performed on her live stream concert Infinite Disco.[37] On 11 November, she performed it again on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.[38] On 31 December, Minogue performed on NBC's New Year's Eve and New Year's Eve Live.[39]

Other Official Remixes

• "Magic" (Nick Reach Up Remix) – 3:10[42]
• "Magic" (Nick Reach Up Extended Mix) – 5:36[43]

Credits adapted from Tidal.[15]