Magazine – Magic, Murder and the Weather (vinyl album)

Released in 1981, “Magic, Murder and the Weather” marked the final chapter of Magazine’s original run and the last studio album to feature Howard Devoto until the band’s return nearly three decades later. Recorded at Trident Studios and mixed with Martin Hannett at Strawberry, the album reflects a group in transition: founding guitarist John McGeoch had departed, replaced by Devoto’s longtime friend Ben Mandelson, while the core of Barry Adamson, Dave Formula, and John Doyle remained intact. Formula’s keyboards take on a more prominent compositional role throughout, while Devoto continues as the band’s sole lyricist, sharpening the record’s detached, sardonic tone.

Musically, the album moves away from the bright precision of “The Correct Use of Soap” toward something colder and more brittle — a mood shaped by Formula’s electronic textures, Mandelson’s angular guitar work, and Devoto’s weary, world-tilting delivery. “About the Weather,” the album’s lone single, hints at the band’s knack for uneasy pop, but much of the record occupies a darker, more fragmented landscape.

The sleeve was designed by Malcolm Garrett, with photography by Bruce Gilden, extending the band’s tradition of stark, conceptual artwork. Garrett’s restrained typography and Gilden’s confrontational imagery frame the album’s uneasy atmosphere, capturing the sharp, urban tension that defined Magazine’s aesthetic.

Though often viewed as the group’s most fractured release, “Magic, Murder and the Weather” remains a compelling document of Magazine’s final phase — a portrait of a band pushing forward even as internal pressures were pulling them apart.