The Album

Muggle Snuggle released their incredible album, Muggle Snuggle and the Polkas of Azkaban, on July 14, 2018. Comprising of twelve songs, the album covers a wide range of characters, places, and magic from the wizarding world. It’s time to snuggle up to your favorite Muggle and get into it!

The Tracks

The first track is called Expecto Patronum! With a gorgeous single voice quickly joined by another, this is a catchy song that is sure to get stuck in your head before you know it. The first half of the song tells about the wonders and joy of casting a Patronus spell, while the second half of the song details what waits for you if you cannot conjure the guardian of light. I love the dark turn the lyrics take.

Speaking of a dark turn, the next song will have you Dancing with Dementors. Their signature accordion comes in while muted vocals sing about what the dementors will do to you if you get too close to them. This piece is the perfect combination of spooky and quirky. I feel like I need an 80s style music video of some dementors dancing in a graveyard while the fog machine is in full blast.

The best genre of music to use accordion with is, of course, polka. The Weasley Polka is based on “The Clarinet Polka” or “A Hupfata.” I love this song so much. It’s fun, bouncy, and hilarious. I also love Muggle Snuggle’s vocals in this one.

Care of Magical Creatures (demo) is a song for all the fantastically magical creatures out there. As always, the harmonies are tight and the vocals are beautiful. The accordion provides a lovely background to the vivid imagery of these incredible creatures.

Next up is the hilarious song: It Was Dumbledore! The lyrics had me laughing the whole way through. My favorite lines from this song are easily:

What could his next inspiration for a password?
Not earwax Bertie Botts – He hated that.

In a traditionally southern folk-song sound, It’s Dobby! had me wanting more. I was clapping along and singing the call-response song along with the band. This is one of my favorites on the album.

Eerily beautiful, with gorgeous howling vocals, Lupin and the Full Moon hit my “sad wrock song” spot RIGHT in the center. I love how absolutely heartbreaking Lupin’s story is portrayed through this song. Everything from the instrumentals to the vocals to the slow lyrics fit together for a perfectly melancholy piece of art.

On Lupin’s tail comes Sirius Black Flies. Pun intended. This piece is somehow both fun and sad at the same time. Muggle Snuggle is just amazing like that. It’s an upbeat song that goes through Sirius’s life and choices. It is a parody of a song by Wade Hemsworth, who was a Canadian folk musician. This was also one of my favorites.

The Fountain of Fair Fortune is up next. At five minutes exactly, Muggle Snuggle tells the whole story of this famous magical children’s fairy tale. The instrumentals are incredible, with both strings and woodwinds sprinkled throughout the song. The harmonies are amazing and of course the vocals are beautiful.

Moving along with the children’s story theme, the next song, The Modest Witch, is a song that I can imagine children singing while they play jump rope. Muggle Snuggle takes the simple lyrics and turn them into a fully fledged song.

The Gringotts Banksters Polka gives us a badass tune with accordion and take-no-nonsense vocals. I love how this song makes the Gringotts goblins sound like absolute gangsters.

The final song on this album is Hagrid in Hogsmeade. This track reminds me of a traditional pub/drinking song. It’s fun and funny, and a great song with which to end the album. You can really hear the fun the performers were having when they recorded this one.

In Summary

The mix of hilarity and seriousness in this album is simply incredible, especially considering how well it all fits together. Muggle Snuggle can pull at your heartstrings in one song and make you cry from laughing in the next. Their vocals together plus their incredible instrumental talents make this album definitely worth a listen.