USA - 2024
Neo-Psychedelia, Synthpop, Dance-Pop
It’s all oh so bright ! Disco, dance, rock, glitch, boogie, neo-psychedelia and funky synthpop, Magdalena Bay’s Imaginal Disk owns the dancefloor and beyond through a starlit odyssey made of distorted reflections. Two years after the already gorgeous Mercurial World, the duo starts all over again with She Looked Like Me!, retracing their origins. « Down the line, over the waves / Two kids and a military / Turn their tongue, change their name / LA love, born to marry ».
But from Argentina to the USA, the American Dream rapidly turns inside out : « LA love, born unsteady » until, later on, « LA love and a stone to carry / That’s my curse, that’s my name ». Mica Tenenbaum’s origin story, although « ordinary » as she states it, is one of a child finding her way through this new world made of rules and obligations.
On the poppier Killing Time, the lingering insecurities and generational traumas influence her behavior : « Spend my days patiently / Waiting for the night to creep / Chasing clouds, counting sheep / I don’t know why but we call it killing time / […] Always killing ». But our narrator remains bound to one thing that makes her keep going : an unbreakable belief in love : « I don’t care if I don’t sleep / But someone better pine for me / Without love, I’m without me ».
And as she fantasizes about this great, pure love waiting for her somewhere, Magdalena Bay’s music makes us fall in love as well. Sweet, catchy and filled with sparkles, it hides well the album’s darker shades.
With all those « stones » inside her body, what could be a better solution than replace yourself with a better version of yourself ? In this concept album that spreads to their music videos and live performances, the narrator meets her perfect reflection : « Right there in the light / And she felt like a dream / I didn’t know what to think / She looked like me ».
The transformation happens on the dystopic ad-like True Blue Interlude : « Say hello, it’s you, the purest you / The next stage, the next phase is here ». And all of a sudden, everything becomes better. On Image, the narrator first « forgot all [her] common sense » but thanks to « medicine », she finally « got all the common sense ». This progression into perfection is transcribed sonically by the addition of a loud synth in the last chorus. « Oh, so hot / Meet your brand new image ». And with their newfound confidence, Magdalena Bay release one of the most perfect pop songs of the year. So how could we resist to this pure image ?
The fantasy about love keeps growing on the next song Death & Romance. « My hands, your hands / I’ll hold forever / No way I’ll break hold / No, not ever / Yeah I give, and you give / ‘Til it’s all that we have ». Imaginal Disk is a fever dream where the narrator and listeners embrace the same point of view, fueled with shiny melodies and this absolute desire for perfection. No more stones, no more boredom, only love and dance and no concerns. But as her dependence to love grows more toxic, the perfect self reveals its flaws.
« Look inside, through the sky / All around us ». Towards the middle of the album, a shift happens in the narration. That pure feeling of love becomes overwhelming whether it’s on Fear, Sex or Vampire In the Corner : « I wanna make you mine / Told you a thousand times / I’m your valentine ». The music gets softer, still as pretty, but there’s something creeping in.
« Too much watching TV / It’s gonna rot from the inside out ». Magdalena Bay paint a world riddled with virtual fantasies and idolized relationships. That toxic love reveals itself on Watching TV : « it’s time to meet the monsters insde you ». The heavy legacy of family history threatens to come back. This acknowledgement happens on the cautiously stunning Tunnel Vision : « I turn my headlights on / And suddenly I see ». With the double-entendre on « headlights », Mica looks within her world of shadows and gets « scared of all my parts / Cause suddenly I can see everything wrong ».
Just like a rebirth, Tunnel Vision and Love Is Everywhere bring back the light as the narrator starts to learn again about the three foundations that makes us human, love, good, evil. We’re ten tracks in and there’s still more to come, but Imaginal Disk doesn’t get boring a single second, always reinventing itself like an hyperactive creature that wants to dance in a million possible ways. But as she dances her way out of perfection, she also embraces her darker sides.
That’s My Floor is a straightforward pop rock song where the narrator becomes the most selfish version of herself. Hubris comes at the forefront in the chorus, « That’s my floor / I’m coming up to the party and I want more ». But this madness can’t last too long. The music needs to keep changing. So on Cry For Me it’s already time for repentance. Between euro-disco and dance-pop, it’s a journey back to the flaws : « Plenty of time to nurture consequence / If you don’t hear back, then God had other plans / I leave all my dregs to all my progeny ».
The narrator’s journey ends with two realizations. The first one is the gorgeous and sad Angel on a Satellite where she rejects free will and welcomes denial : « Damn, man, play that thing / Keep on pulling at my strings / I never wanna stop ». The second one, The Ballad of Matt & Mica, is a return to She Looked Like Me!, an open ending about the weight of insecurities still on their shoulders and the potential fame that could make it all better : « I keep kicking the stone / […] Is it my turn? Small time fame / Bang bang and a happy ending ».
Imaginal Disk doesn’t offer any solutions. It works like a loop, the last song coming back to the first one. But between them, there’s been these inventive attempts to escape, through love, through perfection, denial and selfishness. Each song is a proposition that only ends with another proposition. Endlessly moving, the dream shapeshifts despite the dreadful weight you’re born with. This is Magdalena Bay’s most important statement : no matter how low you might feel, the realms of creativity have endless solutions to offer. So let’s get lost !
But from Argentina to the USA, the American Dream rapidly turns inside out : « LA love, born unsteady » until, later on, « LA love and a stone to carry / That’s my curse, that’s my name ». Mica Tenenbaum’s origin story, although « ordinary » as she states it, is one of a child finding her way through this new world made of rules and obligations.
On the poppier Killing Time, the lingering insecurities and generational traumas influence her behavior : « Spend my days patiently / Waiting for the night to creep / Chasing clouds, counting sheep / I don’t know why but we call it killing time / […] Always killing ». But our narrator remains bound to one thing that makes her keep going : an unbreakable belief in love : « I don’t care if I don’t sleep / But someone better pine for me / Without love, I’m without me ».
And as she fantasizes about this great, pure love waiting for her somewhere, Magdalena Bay’s music makes us fall in love as well. Sweet, catchy and filled with sparkles, it hides well the album’s darker shades.
With all those « stones » inside her body, what could be a better solution than replace yourself with a better version of yourself ? In this concept album that spreads to their music videos and live performances, the narrator meets her perfect reflection : « Right there in the light / And she felt like a dream / I didn’t know what to think / She looked like me ».
The transformation happens on the dystopic ad-like True Blue Interlude : « Say hello, it’s you, the purest you / The next stage, the next phase is here ». And all of a sudden, everything becomes better. On Image, the narrator first « forgot all [her] common sense » but thanks to « medicine », she finally « got all the common sense ». This progression into perfection is transcribed sonically by the addition of a loud synth in the last chorus. « Oh, so hot / Meet your brand new image ». And with their newfound confidence, Magdalena Bay release one of the most perfect pop songs of the year. So how could we resist to this pure image ?
The fantasy about love keeps growing on the next song Death & Romance. « My hands, your hands / I’ll hold forever / No way I’ll break hold / No, not ever / Yeah I give, and you give / ‘Til it’s all that we have ». Imaginal Disk is a fever dream where the narrator and listeners embrace the same point of view, fueled with shiny melodies and this absolute desire for perfection. No more stones, no more boredom, only love and dance and no concerns. But as her dependence to love grows more toxic, the perfect self reveals its flaws.
« Look inside, through the sky / All around us ». Towards the middle of the album, a shift happens in the narration. That pure feeling of love becomes overwhelming whether it’s on Fear, Sex or Vampire In the Corner : « I wanna make you mine / Told you a thousand times / I’m your valentine ». The music gets softer, still as pretty, but there’s something creeping in.
« Too much watching TV / It’s gonna rot from the inside out ». Magdalena Bay paint a world riddled with virtual fantasies and idolized relationships. That toxic love reveals itself on Watching TV : « it’s time to meet the monsters insde you ». The heavy legacy of family history threatens to come back. This acknowledgement happens on the cautiously stunning Tunnel Vision : « I turn my headlights on / And suddenly I see ». With the double-entendre on « headlights », Mica looks within her world of shadows and gets « scared of all my parts / Cause suddenly I can see everything wrong ».
Just like a rebirth, Tunnel Vision and Love Is Everywhere bring back the light as the narrator starts to learn again about the three foundations that makes us human, love, good, evil. We’re ten tracks in and there’s still more to come, but Imaginal Disk doesn’t get boring a single second, always reinventing itself like an hyperactive creature that wants to dance in a million possible ways. But as she dances her way out of perfection, she also embraces her darker sides.
That’s My Floor is a straightforward pop rock song where the narrator becomes the most selfish version of herself. Hubris comes at the forefront in the chorus, « That’s my floor / I’m coming up to the party and I want more ». But this madness can’t last too long. The music needs to keep changing. So on Cry For Me it’s already time for repentance. Between euro-disco and dance-pop, it’s a journey back to the flaws : « Plenty of time to nurture consequence / If you don’t hear back, then God had other plans / I leave all my dregs to all my progeny ».
The narrator’s journey ends with two realizations. The first one is the gorgeous and sad Angel on a Satellite where she rejects free will and welcomes denial : « Damn, man, play that thing / Keep on pulling at my strings / I never wanna stop ». The second one, The Ballad of Matt & Mica, is a return to She Looked Like Me!, an open ending about the weight of insecurities still on their shoulders and the potential fame that could make it all better : « I keep kicking the stone / […] Is it my turn? Small time fame / Bang bang and a happy ending ».
Imaginal Disk doesn’t offer any solutions. It works like a loop, the last song coming back to the first one. But between them, there’s been these inventive attempts to escape, through love, through perfection, denial and selfishness. Each song is a proposition that only ends with another proposition. Endlessly moving, the dream shapeshifts despite the dreadful weight you’re born with. This is Magdalena Bay’s most important statement : no matter how low you might feel, the realms of creativity have endless solutions to offer. So let’s get lost !