The trio met in New York around 2007, sharing music interests and restless spirits. Australian native Isaac Emmanuel spent 2010 traveling across Europe, then jumping across the pond to New York and down to Mexico, recording music along the way with whatever instruments were available. Meanwhile, bandmate and fellow Aussie Michael Italia embarked on his own travels across Europe and South America, also armed with portable recording gear, while Indonesian-born Melati Malay made her own sounds back in New York.

In early 2011, reunited in the same zip code, the bandmembers rented a space in Brooklyn above a speakeasy and began recording together, yielding the singles "Sparkly," "You with Air," and "Night in the Ocean." On the performance end, by fall Young Magic took the stages of the Airwaves Festival in Iceland and CMJ in New York as well as touring with lo-fi dream popster Youth Lagoon. Young Magic made their full-length debut with Melt, released in February 2011 for the Carpark label and featuring their singles along with recordings Emmanuel and Italia made on their travels and back in Brooklyn with Malay. The group spent much of 2012 and 2013 touring in support of Melt, and by the time Young Magic began to record their second album, they had been reduced in size to the duo of Malay and Emmanuel.

The pair recorded in Morocco, France, Czech Republic, Australia, and Iceland as well as their home base in Brooklyn; despite the globetrotting, 2014's Breathing Statues was a more focused and streamlined set of songs. After the death of Malay's father, she visited Indonesia in order to reconnect with her family. She began working on new Young Magic material after returning to New York, joined by Emmanuel, cellist Kelsey Lu McJunkins, percussionist Daniel Alejandro Siles Mendoza, and producer Erin Rioux. Still Life was released by Carpark in 2016. ~ Chrysta Cherrie