Newcomers: Magdalena Bay

Switched on Pop

Vox Media Podcast Network

Music Interviews, Music History, Music, Music Commentary

4.6 • 2.7K Ratings

🗓️ 23 August 2024

⏱️ 23 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Few pop groups are making music as imaginative as Magdalena Bay. The Los Angeles-based duo of singer Mica Tenenbaum and multi-instrumentalist Matthew Lewin, have been steadily releasing music since 2016, eventually breaking out with their viral hit “Killshot,” four years later. In the last four years, their work has dabbled in everything from 70’s disco-pop to Y2K pastiche. Their music, often narrative-based and paired with equally stunning visuals, excels in balancing tension; there’s gossamer-sounding production juxtaposed with dark, conceptual lyrics, or chaotic cacophony placed alongside ironic euphoria. Their sophomore album Imaginal Disk is out today, and is no exception. The record is a concept album of sorts, as it follows the story of a character named True, after receiving a “consciousness upgrade” in the form of the titular “imaginal disk.” Over the course of fifteen songs, Tenenbaum and Lewin tell a story about identity, technology, and what it means to be a human. It’s a lofty record, so Switched On Pop’s Reanna Cruz sat down with Magdalena Bay to talk about how this album manages to sound so gorgeous — and took some cues from ABBA in the process. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:33.0	Regret less, do more with Vaiator. Switch on pop.
0:49.0	pop. the Switch on pop.
0:50.0	I am producer Riana Cruz.
0:51.6	I'm musicologist Nate Sloane and I'm songwriter Charlie
0:54.7	Harding. So we have a brand new series Cookin. Nice. This is the first episode of what we are calling the newcomers.
1:06.0	Mm-hmm.
1:07.0	Smells delicious.
1:08.0	Sounds delicious.
1:10.0	Over the next three Fridays, we will be talking about artists that are popping off right now and that we think you should be listening to.
1:20.0	I'm excited for this. I feel like on the show we have to really respect the charts, you know, we bow down, we
1:27.1	genuflect at the feet of the charts and we cover what's up there in the top 40, top 50
1:32.1	occasionally, but I feel like with this series we have a chance to move away from the charts. there in the top 40, top 50 occasionally.
1:32.7	But I feel like with this series,
1:33.6	we have a chance to move away from the charts
1:35.3	and into the sounds that we think are percolating
1:38.6	and deserve to be heard by more years.
	...

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