Atlanta’s rock ‘n’ roll scholar Duane Hoover is not here to gently reminisce. Following the wiry, electric charge of his previous album Wayward Path, Hoover is slamming the door open on a new chapter with his second LP, “Magic Mirror Story Book”, out October 17, 2025. This isn’t a retreat into the past; it’s a full-throated, cinematic raid on it, melding melody and memory into a panoramic rock record that’s both a reflection and a reinvention.
Hoover has always been a craftsman obsessed with rock’s lineage, one ear permanently tuned to the jangling shimmers of The Kinks and the spiky riffs of The Animals. But where Wayward Path was a direct, amp-cranking homage, Magic Mirror Story Book broadens the scope. The arrangements are bigger, more introspective, but don’t for a second think that means the bite is gone. The man’s characteristic jangle is still there, now just framed within a more expansive, dream-like soundscape. As Hoover himself says, he wanted this record to feel “like walking through a dream, where the sounds from the past still echo but the reflections change every time you look.”
The single, “I Can’t Decide,” is a freaking rocket. Recorded in Hoover’s home studio and produced by the man himself, this track is great in controlled chaos. Hoover handles the guitars and vocals, releasing bending, distorted riffs over a rhythm section—courtesy of Anthony Krizan on bass and drums—that drives with a 70s-style swagger. It’s got that “NYC punk-style Kinks-flavoured fashion” he’s known for, packed with early Beatles-esque harmonies and a hook so goddamn catchy it’s lethal. The lyrics capture a modern confusion—“a midnight ride with captain courageous doesn’t seem to be right now so contagious, we’re sailing into a storm of controversy… I can’t decide what’s right or what’s wrong”—but the music is all decisive, swaggering rock ‘n’ roll confidence.
This album is a full-length journey, with a track list that promises a deep dive. From the opening cut “Inside World” to the closing mystique of “Door to Nowhere,” Hoover is mapping out a vast sonic territory. Tracks like “National Hero” and “Surfin Spy” suggest a continuation of his ability to take recognisable vibes—be it mod, punk, or power-pop—and run them through his own unique filter. He’s a channeler, not a mimic. On Wayward Path, he proved he could take songs from Donovan, Nick Lowe, and even Buddy Holly and inject them with a lethal dose of Who-style aggression, all wild drum rolls and windmill power chords. That same transformative energy and “Who aggression” is now being funnelled into his own original material for this new chapter.
“Magic Mirror Story Book” is the work of a man completely in command of his sound. Duane Hoover has built a world where the ghosts of The Who and The Clash dance with melody and memory, and we’re all lucky enough to be invited to the party.