Magnolia Park Release Sophomore Album Halloween Mixtape II
As summer cools into fall, let Magnolia Park’s genre-rich, hook-packed Halloween Mixtape II be the perfect soundtrack to whatever you have in store this October. Whether it’s cuddling under a blanket to a horror movie classic or building out a killer costume, celebrate the season with their contemporary fusion of magnetic pop, hard-rock, nu-metal, hip-hop, phonk and 2000s theater-emo.
Out now via Epitaph Records, the band tapped longtime collaborators and Baku’s Revenge (2021) producers Andrew Wade (A Day To Remember, Wage War) and Andy Karpovck to expand on the hardened edge underlying their trademark catchy hooks and memorable melodies.
To commemorate today’s release, Magnolia Park also deliver the high-quality production video for “Candles” filmed in a creepy house interior that you might recall from sets of thrilling shows like True Blood and American Horror Story. The song is a lively, anthemic banger that embodies the kind of “stadium pop-punk” Grammy.com recently lauded them for, with a hard-hitting hook and emphatic vocal delivery that recalls the likes of Imagine Dragons’ “Radioactive”. The band explains the uplifting message behind “Candles”, commenting:
"No matter how dark the world gets or how broken you feel, don’t lose the light inside you.”
“Candles” - WATCH
Halloween Mixtape II - LISTEN
On Halloween Mixtape II, the follow up to 2022’s debut record Baku’s Revenge and spiritual counterpart to 2021’s Halloween Mixtape, Magnolia Park’s kaleidoscopic fusion of sound is on display more than ever. Creating a versatile soundscape to support the many worlds that their music lies in, the band’s strengths stem from its individual members who all play a major role in the blend of genres they seamlessly combine.
“Vince comes from a pop-leaning world, Freddie comes from a math rock and experimental world, and I'm very hip-hop-oriented,” guitarist Tristan Torres explains. “You can hear that in our sound – all these worlds colliding. We're not selfish about our sounds, we like it when we all mix together. Josh's amazing voice is the nail in the coffin, and Joe is such an amazing drummer.”
Nowhere is their unique sonic mesh more apparent than on lead single “Animal” - the guttural, industrial-meets-nu-metal blast features rapper Ethan Ross and dark-pop singer PLVTINUM, showcasing Joshua Roberts’ Chester Bennington-esque vocal howl. Paving the way for this album’s expanded palette was their hit single “Do Or Die” (also featuring Ethan Ross), with an intense flurry of phonk, alt-rock, metal and hip-hop that helped push their sound into heavier territories.
Taking inspiration from a variety of pop culture juggernauts – the legendary virtual rockers Gorillaz, anime, and Tim Burton’s Nightmare Before Christmas, Halloween Mixtape II further develops the narratives built around Magnolia Park’s fictional universe and its characters: Baku, Heart Eater, SoulEater, Dream Eater, MoonEater, Pumpkin Eater, and the Reaper. "We just want to create soundtracks for our characters," comments Torres.
Following a triumphant performance at When We Were Young 2023 and currently wrapping up a headlining tour with support from TX2 and poptropicaslutz!, the release of Halloween Mixtape II marks a brand-new chapter for Magnolia Park. Since forming in 2019 they have shared stages with the likes of Mayday Parade, Sum 41 and A Day To Remember, and after breaking through with their debut album ‘Baku’s Revenge’ in 2022, Ones To Watch claimed that they “proved that they are more than a Tik-Tok band”. A confident statement amidst their skyrocketing popularity with currently over 763K followers and close to 68 million views on their page. Paralleled by an extreme spike in listeners, on Spotify they have grown to 1.3 million monthly listeners with 3 million streams per week. The prolific fivesome have also earned praise from Kerrang!, Alternative Press, Afropunk, MTV News, Ones To Watch and BrooklynVegan, hailed by the latter as “one of the best bands bringing the mainstream pop punk revival sound back right now.”