After releasing singles and EPs for years, Magdalena Bay is now sharing their debut album, Mercurial World. The record was released on October 8th and is made of 14 tracks. In fact, their first release was a mini album, Mini Mix, Vol. 1, that contained only 7 songs. Then, the 2020 8-songs-EP A Little Rhythm and A Wicked Feeling, and finally Mini Mix, Vol. 2 were released. Despite these releases, Mercurial World is so far not only the longest album, but also the most cohesive and complete one. The album came after the release of three singles, including You Lose!
Magdalena Bay worked on the album during lockdown
As many other artists, Mica Tenenbaum and Matthew Lewin worked on the project during lockdown, after they had to cancel their 2020 tour. “Insane that this album we made in isolation in our apartment is now out in the world…… whelp hope you like it!,” they said on the duo’s Instagram account.
Magdalena Bay is an indie-pop duo. Mica Tenenbaum and Matthew Lewin, the two members of the band, met at an after-school music program in Miami. When they first stated dating, they also started making music together. First, they went under the name Tabula Rosa, played prog-rock and released two album. The duo developed a “very small fan base of middle-aged men,” as Lewis said. They went to collage in different states and broke up, but finally reconnected under the name of Magdalena Bay.
The use of synths and the feeling of nostalgia
Now, as they proudly say on their Spotify account, they play “Synth pop straight from the simulation.” Mercurial world is indisputably indie electronic, electro-pop and synth-pop. In some songs even attributable to the Vaporwave genre, due to the high use of synths and the consequential feeling of nostalgia. In fact, the use of 80s synthesisers, effected with reverbs and loops is attributable to the genre.
The album cover
The cover of the album is a reminder of the “aesthetic” artistic movement. Usually, there is an association between this movement and Vaporwave. Moreover, the colours, the VHS filter and the association of different artistic movements, including psychedelic art of the 60s and 70s, is typical of the aesthetic movement.
