IAIN HORNAL - Return To The Magic Kingdom

Iain Hornal's résumé is a notable one: a permanent member of the live line-ups of 10cc and Jeff Lynne's Elo, the British singer-songwriter has also toured with Yes Ft Anderson, Take That, Pugwash and Sophie Ellis-Bextor, and has collaborated with Marc Almond and Graham Gouldman.

Despite having put together a band, Big Horizon, Iain Hornal also has a handful of solo albums to his name: his third and latest, "Return To The Magic Kingdom", is a project that's sure to find an audience among power-pop lovers.

To get a full picture of the English musician's output, just imagine Andrew Gold on a renewed psych-power-pop trip à la "Fraternal Order Of The All" ("Love Your Enemies"), Elo's "Mr Blue Sky" remixed by Jellyfish ("The Magic Kingdom"), or Cheap Trick at the peak of their Beatles-fuelled binge ("Positive People"). Citing further influences and callbacks would risk filling a page with superfluous links: after all, Hornal makes no claim to originality or droit du seigneur. The ultimate goal of "Return To The Magic Kingdom" is to delight the listener with a deliberately excessive load of guitar riffs, driving piano chords, beat-surf backing vocals and melodies as simple as they are catchy ("Little Bit More"), never once giving in to the temptation of baroque-pop languor.

Iain pulls off a small miracle by enlisting one of the undisputed masters of pop songwriting, Graham Gouldman, for the splendid "If I Were You", before trying his hand at a delight in the style of Xtc/Dukes ("Your Wonderland"), lulling the listener with country-pop harmonies and Beach Boys-style backing vocals on "Already Dead", all without giving up the alluring new wave edge of "Just My Personality" or the Aor sounds of "What Do You Care".

Rest assured, no one will offer you a dive into the late '80s more enjoyable and endearingly kitsch than Iain Hornal's "Return To The Magic Kingdom", a record that will become your guilty pleasure to never reveal to anyone.

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05/05/2026