Magen Tracy & the Missed Connections

Magen Tracy has been hanging hard with Nate Leavitt. The two play together in Parlour Bells, the Nate Leavitt band and Magen Tracy & the Missed Connections. He also produced her first solo work in years, EP “Fiercely.” His smart, hushed aesthetic pairs perfectly with her quiet, spacious ballads.

In a city that rocks, Tracy doesn’t fear soft piano and delicate vocals. Much like Leavitt’s own solo work, Tracy’s stands in clear opposition to noisy guitars and big drums — and she gets to have it both ways as she moonlights playing keys in the loud and dangerous Parlour Bells. But ballads don’t mean boring. With its guitars-that-sound-like-horns and cooing girl-group backing vocals, “Nightingale” sounds like the Motels doing a Broadway showstopper produced by Phil Spector. Something I never imagined and totally dig.

Come celebrate Magen Tracy & the Missed Connections’ release Thursday at Atwood’s Tavern in Cambridge, and go to Jed Gottlieb’s Boston Herald Guestlisted blog to hear the exclusive debut of “Nightingale.” - Boston Herald (Guestlisted with Jed Gottlieb

Last week we hyped a new single from Boston noir-pop band Parlour Bells, and mentioned that their players were leaving the keys to frontman Goddamn Glenn to each set off to pursue other projects, pleasures, and interests. After new releases earlier this year from Nate Leavitt and Brendan Boogie, the latest to emerge from that lot is keyboardist Magen Tracy, who again takes center stage with her own band, The Missed Connections.

This morning, we’re exited to premiere the new single from the project, appropriately titled Magen Tracy And The Missed Connections. The song is called “Harder Girl”, and it’s a rootsy twirl around folk and Americana that’s aided by Tracy’s sharp lyrical play. Listen to it below via Soundcloud.

Tracy’s press bio reads that her sound is “like if Tori Amos and Lucinda Williams made out,” and interestingly enough, that make-believe scenario of unlikely hook-ups comes to mind as if played out last night between quarreling lovers at the bar. Here on “Harder Girl”, Tracy is having that morning-after talk with her lover, and it’s not long before she waltzes out that front door with the wind at her back, swagger on her side, and a grin on her face.

On “Harder Girl,” Tracy collaborated with producer and Airport frontman Craig Small (who also admirably filled in for Alejandro Necochea during Worshipper’s run to the 2016 Rumble crown). The track also represents her first release with the Missed Connections.

“The name ‘Missed Connections’ used to refer to the fact that each show featured a new set of musicians–people I’d either played with on other projects, or had always wanted to,” she says in the press notes. “For the first nine months, I don’t think we played two shows with the same lineup.”

These days, the band lineup is fully realized, with guitarist Small joined by Stud Green (violin/mandolin, acoustic guitar) Sam Spencer (bass), and Tamora Gooding (drums). Catch the gang in action this Sunday, September 25, when they play the Anti-Gun Violence Benefit at ONCE Ballroom in Somerville with the Boston Rock Opera, Abbie Barrett & Band, and more, and then again October 13 at Atwood’s Tavern in Cambridge with LOVE LOVE. - Vanyaland (Michael Marotta)

Magen Tracy has seen her share of genre and bands. The last album, produced by Nate Leavitt (who Magen also performs with in a band) may have bordered on the more rootsy end of the spectrum, but it dovetails nicely with this latest single off of the upcoming release from her and The Missed Connections. A smokey speakeasy vibe with rock n’ roll and a bit of glam rock. All influences that seemingly have seeped into this latest effort from the pianist/songwriter’s other projects in some fashion and made for a fresh sound that she commands particularly well.

The first single off the new record, “Color the Air” is, at the heart of it all, a lost love song about a relationship gone, but the yearning that comes with it. As it starts slow with a piano and a voice, the song explodes into a chorus of instruments and voices. The melody digs itself into your brain and won’t dislodge. Tracy’s vocal performance stays center stage through it all, be it surrounding by a slurry of percussion and electric guitars or on its own in the more tender moments.

The Missed Connections celebrate the release later this month (September 28th) with a speak-easy themed extravaganza at the Rockwell in Davis Square, where Hoke will perform her dance it its entirety. Video director Leesa Coyne will also release her new solo EP as Lonely Leesa & the Lost Cowboys, produced by Brian King. Making their debut live appearance this evening will be The Daylilies, a Massachusetts quintet featuring former and current members of the Fast Easy Women, Mistle Thrush and Reverse. - Red Line Roots (Brian Carroll)