Co-led by former Oh-OK member Linda Hopper and featuring the estimable songwriting and guitar stylings of Ruthie Morris, Atlanta band Magnapop saw minor U.S. success in the mid-’90s thanks to alt-rock earworms like “Open the Door.” But the band has carved out a steady career since, thanks largely to its popularity among European listeners, and on Sept. 27 it will release a sixth full-length—the group’s first album in a decade—titled The Circle Is Round.
In addition to nine new songs, the record contains two previously unreleased tracks recorded during sessions for Magnapop’s self-titled 1992 debut. Today, we’re thrilled to provide a first listen to one of those tunes, the roaring “Leo.”
The new album’s title has an endearing origin story. “We were in Holland doing an interview, and the journalist was trying to say that the band has come full circle, like how we say in America, but he couldn’t find the right words, and kept mistranslating it,” Morris tells Flagpole contributor Chad Radford.
“He said, ‘Ah yes, so the circle is round!’ And Linda said, ‘Well yes, the circle is round.’ We all kept laughing about it, and then we ended up using it for the name of the record.”
Stream “Leo” below, and pre-order The Circle Is Round via HHBTM.
Magnapop plays an album release show at Little Kings Shuffle Club on Saturday, Sept. 28.
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