The follow-up to a surprise British hit, and the album where Bo Hansson stopped adapting other people’s books and simply played.

The short version

The Swedish original appeared on Silence in 1972 under the title ‘Ur Trollkarlens Hatt’; the international edition, retitled ‘Magician’s Hat’, followed on Charisma in September 1973 and was issued across Europe, North America and beyond. Unlike its predecessor and its successor, it is based on no literary source: the titles are Hansson’s own and no accessible source connects them to anything. It is entirely instrumental. The international edition credits a considerably larger cast of players than the Swedish one.

Two editions, and a track that becomes two

The differences between the Swedish and international editions of this album go beyond the title. The Swedish record opens with an eleven-and-a-half-minute piece called ‘Storstad’; on the British edition that same opening becomes two separately titled tracks, ‘The City’ and ‘Divided Reality’, running seven and six minutes. Whether that is an edit, an extension or a re-recording is not documented. The credits also differ, with the British edition listing acoustic guitar, bass, congas, electric piano and a second saxophone player that the Swedish one does not. Treat the two as related rather than identical.

The sound

This is loose-limbed, jazz-touched instrumental symphonic prog. Without a book to structure it, the album is looser than the Tolkien record and leans further toward jazz and blues phrasing, with Kenny Håkansson’s guitar taking a larger role and the horns more prominent. Hansson adds Mellotron to his own battery. The pieces are mostly short — several under two minutes — which gives the record a sketchbook quality. Critics who have written about it consistently describe it as broader in territory than its predecessor but more diffuse, with several ideas left undeveloped.

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The songs

‘Storstad’ opens the Swedish edition at eleven and a half minutes and is the longest thing here; on the international edition the same material appears as two tracks. ‘Findhorns Sång’, called ‘Findhorn’s Song’ abroad, is among the most attractive of the short pieces. ‘Solen’, or ‘The Sun’, runs past seven minutes and is the other extended piece. Two of the album’s tracks are co-written, with the saxophonist and the guitarist each taking a credit — the only shared writing on any Hansson album here.

Reception and legacy

Commercially this was a step down: the album failed to chart in either Britain or the United States, despite the success of its predecessor. Critical assessments have been mixed in a consistent way, describing it as compelling in places but lacking the energy and focus of the Tolkien record, and noting that a number of tracks feel like ideas that were never expanded. It remains the least-discussed of Hansson’s four albums, and the only one without a literary hook to hang a story on.

The verdict

This is the Hansson album for people who liked the sound of the first one and do not need a narrative to hold it together. Taken as a set of instrumental sketches it is charming, the playing is relaxed and the jazz inflection gives it a character the other albums lack. Taken as the follow-up to a gold record it disappoints, which is how most contemporary listeners took it. Come to it third or fourth, with no expectations, and it is considerably better than its reputation.

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