Switched on Pop - Newcomers: Magdalena Bay

Episode Date: August 23, 2024

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

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from the first instant and she has aweller. Good Girl Jasmine Absolute, hypnotica, irresistible. Discover it now and let you move forward for susentia. Welcome to Switchdown Pop. I am producer Rianna Cruz. I'm musicologist Nate Sloan.

And I'm songwriter Charlie Harding. So we have a brain. brand new series cooking. Nice. This is the first episode of what we are calling the newcomers. Hmm, hmm. Smells delicious. Mm-hmm.

Sounds delicious. 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. I'm excited for this. I feel like on the show, we have to really respect the charts. You know, we bow down. And we genuflect at the feet of the charts and we cover what's up there in the top 40, top 50 occasionally. But I feel like with this series we have a chance to move away from the charts and into the sounds that we think are percolating and deserve to be heard by more ears.

So there's been a lot of new records this fall. You guys have talked about brat. You've talked about Ketcha. But I'm here to tell you about a new record out today, the duo Magdalena Bay's new record imaginable disc. Magdalene The Bay is one of those artists where I hear their song and I'm like, oh, that's the biggest song in the world at the moment, right? And then I go check it and I'm like, oh, it should be the biggest song in the moment. Yeah, that was their song image and people love this band. And it's very easy to see why.

They broke out with their song Killshot in 2020. And their debut album, Mercurial World, came out in 2021, progressing their sound with songs like Secrets, parentheses. your fire. Gossamer is the adjective that comes to mind to describe these productions, that vocal quality. But I also like that despite the buoyancy of these tracks, there's also like kind of a darkness to the lyrics. There's some heaviness there. And that tension is what I find so compelling about this group. Totally. And that makes sense because they're a duo that originally made Prague rock music in their last band, Tabula Rasa, before moving into the same. to this fully art-pop space with Magdalena Bay,

and they make music that is eclectic, genre expansive, and incredibly catchy. Check out one of their latest singles off the new record, Death and Romance. Whoa. This is like 70s psychedelic rock with disco, with EDM, house piano.

Great pop music. I love it. And in addition to making incredible pop music, their ethos as a duo. also is visually inclined and story forward. Imaginaldisc follows the story of a character named True as she learns what it means to be human after receiving a consciousness upgrade in the form of said imaginal disc.

Yeah, I'm not sure I picked that up on my previous listen. I mean, Charlie and I always have trouble following lyrics, but that was way beyond our ken. It's very lofty. And because it's a very lofty concept, I wanted to talk to Magdalena Bay directly about this dense, transcendent pop album on the day it comes out. I'll let them take it away. Yeah, hey, we're Magdalena Bay. I'm Mika. And I'm Matt. Let's get into your new record. Imagineal disc. What is an imaginal disc? Yes, it's a couple of things. Yeah, I guess in the real world, in the biological world, the imaginal disc with a sea is.

a part of an insect in their cells that when they sort of melt into a goo and go in their cocoon, the imaginal disks have these little codes in them that are like, okay, well, this part of this goo cell is going to be a wing cell next. So it's sort of, it's almost like the fundamental instructions for rebuilding yourself into a new being that sort of always existed within the original being, but will then continue to exist in the new form. Yeah, and our album, Imaginaldisc with a K, comes to be a sort of blueprint slash code for humanity in what it will be. So meaning, you know, the disc entering the forehead is the moment of consciousness, of awakening, and awareness and that introduction of self. I see it as like a concept album of sorts.

can you walk me through the story of the record? I don't know if we'd consider it a full-on concept album. Like, it's not like Tommy or anything like that. But I think it has concepts. Yeah, I mean, there's like different layers of meaning that album is very much inspired lyrically by like themes of self and consciousness and subconsciousness and family history and identity

and reflections and all of those things, kind of creating this visual universe around it, which is a story that kind of gets like layered on top of the core meaning of the album itself. So what is the meaning to you guys? I started getting into these questions of self when I started doing therapy again. And it was like the same therapist I had in high school. And she does Lacanian psychoanalysis. It's like a school of psychoanalysis. But you're talking way more about your dreams and your subconscious So yeah, that kind of inspired a lot of stories and ideas. Like the first song is kind of about family history and, well, both of our families really

immigrated to Argentina right before the Holocaust and like what kind of madness or things get passed down from a beginning like that. It all just kind of contributes to the self. How do you guys manage to craft such? beautiful pop songs with such lofty, lyrical themes. Yeah, I guess a big part of what we enjoy in music and what we try to do is to balance the seriousness with the humor and sort of the whimsical. And I think that probably helps ourselves tackle themes like that in a way that to us

feels more like a Magdalena Bay pop song. Yeah, for sure. And it's like my imagination just needs like a jumping off point. which is kind of this lofty, heavy place. And then there's so many avenues you can take that. You know, like a song like image is, you know, not super, like, heavy or dark, but it is still kind of like wondering about the same questions in its own way. So what is a Magdalena Bay pop song?

I think whenever we start a song, it like starts with some sort of sound or something that evokes a specific feeling that we both agree. it feels like a magdalena bass song. And it's hard to put into words, but I think we know that sound when we hear it, and then that sort of serves as like the jumping off point to the rest of the writing. But it's weird because it's not like a conscious thing.

It's very subconscious. There's a lot of really interesting sonic cues. The first song we hear on the record is like a disc getting inserted. Hello. Then like at the end of the track watching TV, there's like glitches. There's rewinding tape, which sounds like at the end of tunnel vision. Did you intentionally plan to put these things in the record, or was it something that happened organically?

A lot of those cues specifically that you mentioned were a post-sequencing thing, where we write the music, we sort of produce the music, we put it all together, and then we think about the story that the sequence of the music is telling. Then we think of ways to sort of amplify or like fortify that story with certain cues like that. And I think to us, like, the sequencing is so important and so tied to the flow. The goal for us is to make a record that someone will want to listen to start the finish every time. You know, that's definitely the intention behind this record and our last record. So I think just, like, adding these storytelling moments just help for us to feel like we're making a complete piece of work.

A lot of songs on the record feel very cacophonous. there's a lot of chaos, but the sequencing is really apparent because you switch from these, like, heavy sonics to like light, airy kind of songs. And I hear it in the transitions and the sequencing, like you mentioned, like how we move from like tunnel vision, which is like thrashy, you know, kind of shoegazy into something like love is everywhere. Yeah, I mean, those contrasting moments are so fun to figure out and so important to the flow of things. So, yeah, I think sequencing the record was one of our favorite parts of working on it. Yeah, it's funny because you could, like, express a sense of humor within the sequencing.

Like, that direct transition from the end of tunnel vision to love is everywhere is funny, you know, because it's such a stark contrast. And I think you could do so much with sequencing. And especially when you think about, like, the album as this narrative structure, it just helps it feel more, like, I guess, cinematic in a way. Yeah, and it totally influences the story. too, like the musical story that you're getting, just emotive and also the lyrics, too, like when you shuffle things around, it really changes the story you're getting.

And it's very cool. I feel like you guys fashion yourselves as storytellers in a way. Perhaps. I guess it's interesting because, you know, the lyrics are not like traditional Bob Dylan-style storytelling. They are a lot more abstract and looser, but I think you can still express storytelling just through sonically the music and just the emotion. of the lyrics. It's kind of a choose your own to

me. It's kind of like a choose-your-one-to-interpretation, but I think the emotional highs in the music and certain things like that are just felt and it all helps like, you know, fill in the gaps, but create other gaps that people can find different meanings in. I really like when people can kind of interpret their own thing from listening to the music. So I'm even hesitant to say, like, what the narrative means to me. But it's essentially like a narrative of self-discovery. What do you say? I think so. And I think a lot of it has to do too with like inspection of like flaws deep within oneself and like what those flaws.

come to mean. And for me personally, at the end of the album, I feel like an acceptance of these flaws and turning them into something, which to me is like making... They're like an expression of your humanity. Exactly. Yeah. These flaws are what makes me human. And at the end of the day, I'm okay with it because I've guessed in a meta sense, I've made this album about it and kind of like exercised all of these like concerns with myself. you know, not permanently, but it is cathartic and I do feel like a sense of peace with a lot of these questions that I'd been asking while making it. Maria, you have a podcast now and you need to start acting like it. What's the first step as a podcaster?

Well, you have to ask lots of questions. I'm Maria Sharpova and I'm hosting a new podcast called Pretty Tough. Every week, I'm sitting down with trailblazing women at the top of their game to discuss ambition, work ethic, and the ups and downs that come on the path to achieving greatness. I have a few pretty tough questions for you. Okay. Ready? Ready. Do not sugarcoat something for me.

No. No. We'll dive into their stories and get valuable insights from top executives, actors, entrepreneurs, and other individuals who have inspired me so much in my own journey. Pretty tough is your front row seat to the women who have demonstrated the power in being unapologetic in their pursuits. I hope you'll join us. New episodes drop Wednesdays on YouTube or in your favorite podcast app. I want to talk about a few specific songs.

Let's talk about death and romance. What does this track serve in the narrative of the record that you guys are talking about? The song is about death and romance, of course. It's like these ideas of loss and love and just how they're like just really big pillars of importance in a human life. and a lot of humanity just comes from experiencing those things. And I think experiences of love and loss just get folded into your being and your DNA as a person. Yeah, I think death and romance, you know, at its core is a love song, but it is sort of interpreting the love song in sort of a different way.

And it's more about the effects that maybe the death of a loved one can have on you. But it's still primarily about loving someone. I guess with loving someone there comes a lot of joy, but also a lot of not-so-happy stuff. This is a very specific compliment, but the pianos on this track in the mix are so amazing. It's so incredible. And I really love the pianos on other tracks on the album,

like Cry for Me. How did you choose what instruments you put forward in such an eclectic mix? I can imagine there's a lot of instruments going on, a lot of production. I guess this record is a lot more piano forward than maybe some of the other stuff we've been writing. It's probably just like music we were listening to. I mean, if you look at like Genesis stuff, Tony Banks' keyboards are like at the forefront of everything. We were listening to a lot of that and just taking inspiration from that.

We also like have access now to an acoustic piano, which we didn't have previously. And I think just being able to write on like an upright piano is a big game changer. We had one before, but it had like, like, really jangly messed up out of tune sound and just having one that sounds nice is awesome. I also really love the percussion on this record. It also feels very distinct and forward, which is funny that you bring up Genesis, because I feel the same way about Genesis where the drums are always like in front of your ears. And on a song like Fear Sex, like you can hear the drums so clearly and the percussion,

and it's such a beautiful part of the music. of this sonic kind of field you're creating. Yeah, the big difference between this record and our last is that almost every song has live drum recording on it. It's all like our touring drummer, Nick, who was in our high school band, and we've known for a long time, you know, since we were kids, he's playing on almost every song. And I think that really shifted the sound of the record in a big way, just focusing more on the live drums and then also like the live piano and stuff it just sort of packages the record in a different way than like our previous one yeah it's more organic sounding and I yeah I wonder if it's like you know

we were like listening to more music with live drums but also touring a lot and hearing our mercurial world record with live drums because we had to you know reinterpret those electronic drum parts my favorite song on the record personally is cry for me in terms of the narrative it feels like an emotional breakthrough. Yeah, I guess, you know, the writing of that one was sort of interesting because we started with that first section. And there's this middle sort of bridge section that ties the A to the B section. But also like I was just on this wave when we were working on that song where I was just so obsessed

with Dancing Queen by Abba and I was like, this song has the best feeling of all time and I'm just trying to like figure out a way to like capture a little bit of that feeling. I don't know if that's successful, but that's basically where the second section originated from was just trying to like grab a little bit of that dancing queen. Obviously, like, cry for me is so much more moody and dramatic and not as like, I guess, joyous in the way that Dancy Queen is. But I think hopefully there's like a little bit of that makes its way into it. Yeah. And yeah, that song, I just feel like it's one of those very much written from the perspective

of this character who's like very much a villain and has somehow been like. cast out and is on some sort of journey of like you know wanting absolution but it's just begging to be remembered in a positive light and then craving to be washed free of their sins and like reborn as a pure being and I don't know if they get what they want I don't know yeah I mean to me it feels like definitely the climax of like the hero's journey of the record where they've sort of gone through it all you know, they've expressed a little bit of hubris and then have been taken down by the gods and now they're sort of on their knees. So I think there is like this big melodrama happening in the song, which is why we love it.

Switched on Pop is produced by Rana Cruz, edited by Art Chung, edited by Jolia Myers, illustrations by Arras Gottlieb, executive producer to Shot Kerwa and remember of the Vox Media podcast network in a production of Vulture, which is part of New York Magazine. You can subscribe at NYMag.com. slash pod reach out to us on social media at instagram what newcomers are you listening to and tune in next week for not one but two episodes our regular tuesday drop and another friday addition to the newcomer series and until then thanks for listening