MAGDALENA BAY
2021 SYNTH-POP/ELECTROPOP
Mercurial World is the debut album from American synth-pop floor cutters Magdalena Bay. What’s there to say about this record? The duo, to my knowledge, have not had any substantial creative output solo or with any other project other than a few EPs under their current name. I can’t say I was aware of any hype around singles but I’m not as plugged in as most. When you listen to Mercurial World it’s not going to blow your mind. There’s no twisted section of production that carves a unique niche in the style. At points the songwriting approaches impeccable but it’s not like it’s a nonstop barrage that will be lodged in your brain until the lights go out. It’s just a really good album of synth-pop, a few high points and low points but overall an incredibly solid effort.
The production is clear, an effervescent club of pastel pinks. The vocals, femme, wrapping the audience around their finger with a nonchalant “yeah, this is what happens when I walk into a room” attitude. On the synth-pop spectrum they land somewhat left of the mainstream, not to the side of saccharine indie such as Passion Pit, more like the oddball pop stars of recent history. Not as freakish PC music trying to usher in the android age but not banal either. Just right for an easy but engaging ride. The title track opens up just as you should, thumping percussion into the millennial ecstasy of an ethereal chorus that opens with synths and sliding notes of low bit bliss. The most important bit, as always with pop, being that the chorus hits, sometimes it’s really that simple and this record knows how to climb into an ear. The pre-chorus of Dawning of the Season is somehow better than the main act as the production clears the way for each syllable to be whispered with sensual satisfaction. We go full funk on Secrets (Your Fire) as bright keys stab their way through the viscose atmosphere of synths and claps.
Secrets
I don’t wanna tell you everything about me
I don’t wanna feed more oxygen to
Your fire, your fire
La, la, la, la, la
This chorus is incredible and yet the smooth lalas steal the show as they slink across in a display of intimacy that feels like it could only be a thing of your imagination. Not to put out the listeners pop fueled dopamine run they follow up with the crunchy 8-bit passion of You Lose. The singer on this track, and all others, has an acute understanding of the importance of the flow of a good chorus and its interplay with the instrumental. Each time immediately igniting a part of the brain that commands you to dance even while seated. At its halfway point we are met with Chaeri, the kind of song that makes a band’s career. The nocturnal beat, the regretful melancholy, and the charisma that oozes from its being.
Chaeri, please
You’re killing me
It’s only that bad, it’s only that bad
If you tell yourself you’ll never get out of bed
This may be the hook but the whole track is the hook. Tearful and joyous, a reunion that never dies. Then it’s one quality song after another with a major highlight in the ironically named closer The Beginning. Shimmering with brilliant colors, choreographed struts with each pop of the hip mesmerizing as much as the fireworks happening all around. There’s nothing like finishing the listening experience with a smile plastered to your face. the Mercurial World is no mystery, it tells you that we’re going to have fun and then fun is had. There’s enough variety to keep it interesting throughout with top to bottom stellar songwriting. My only complaint is that it didn’t release in the heart of summer, rays of sunshine and fluorescent fashion would really accentuate this album, but hey you can’t have everything and this is a blast so turn it up.
