Imaginal Disk

2024 studio album by Magdalena Bay
Imaginal Disk
A gray hand with long fingernails pushing a CD into an opening in a bare-chested woman's head, with a blue sky and the sun shining in the background.
Studio album by
Magdalena Bay
ReleasedAugust 23, 2024 (2024-08-23)
StudioMag Bay HQ
Genre
  • Synth-pop[1][2]
  • dance-pop[3]
  • Progressive pop
  • Neo-psychedelia
  • chillwave
Length53:36
LabelMom + Pop
Producer
  • Mica Tenenbaum
  • Matthew Lewin
Magdalena Bay chronology
Mini Mix, Vol. 3
(2023) 		Imaginal Disk
(2024)
Singles from Imaginal Disk
  1. "Death & Romance"
    Released: May 28, 2024
  2. "Image"
    Released: July 10, 2024
  3. "Tunnel Vision"
    Released: July 31, 2024
  4. "That's My Floor"
    Released: August 21, 2024

Imaginal Disk is the second studio album by American duo Magdalena Bay, released on August 23, 2024, through Mom + Pop Music. It received universal acclaim from critics.

Background

The title shares its name with imaginal discs, the structures within the body of insect larvae that form part of their adult bodies.[2] For the album, Magdalena Bay reimagined the term as a distorted CD-shaped object inserted into a person's forehead.

Though not an official member of Magdalena Bay, frequent collaborator and former Tabula Rasa bandmate Nick Villa performs drums on most tracks on the album.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic85/100[4]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
The Line of Best Fit9/10[2]
NME[1]
Pitchfork7.7/10[5]
Slant Magazine[6]
Under the Radar[7]

Imaginal Disk received a score of 85 out of 100 on review aggregator Metacritic based on eight critics' reviews, which the website categorized as "universal acclaim".[4] Nick Seip of Slant Magazine wrote that the album "finds [Magdalena Bay] at their most radical" and "offers a confluence of ideas that allows for strange detours through a sonic hall of mirrors".[6] Matthew Kim of The Line of Best Fit described it as "the product of a band intensely honing what they want to sound like and ending up with a style so unique that it's barely possible to describe. It's dorky and strange and dramatic, like the duo themselves."[2]

NME's Otis Robinson found it to be "kaleidoscopic and overproduced in all the right ways" and "soundtracked by the same anachronistic, trippy synth-pop of its predecessor but grounded by the busk-y tambourine and analogue percussion of indie-pop".[1] Caleb Campbell of Under the Radar stated that "if the duo's previous record showed off their mastery of pop songcraft, Magdalena Bay feel more interested in exploring new textures and emotional range on Imaginal Disk".[7]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Mica Tenenbaum and Matthew Lewin.

Imaginal Disk track listing
No.TitleLength
1."She Looked Like Me!"3:13
2."Killing Time"3:53
3."True Blue Interlude"1:49
4."Image"3:32
5."Death & Romance"5:14
6."Fear, Sex"2:32
7."Vampire in the Corner"3:22
8."Watching T.V."4:05
9."Tunnel Vision"5:05
10."Love Is Everywhere"3:14
11."Feeling Diskinserted?"0:58
12."That's My Floor"3:42
13."Cry for Me"5:07
14."Angel on a Satellite"4:03
15."The Ballad of Matt & Mica"4:00
Total length:53:36

Personnel

Magdalena Bay

  • Mica Tenenbaum – production, vocals
  • Matthew Lewin – production, string arrangements, brass arrangements, backing vocals

Additional musicians

  • Nick Villa – drums
  • Erik Arvinder – orchestra conductor
  • Anna Roos Stefansson – violin
  • Brusk Zanganeh – violin
  • Daniel Migdal – violin
  • Daniela Bonfiglioli – violin
  • Fredrik Syberg – violin
  • Martin Stensson – violin
  • Oscar Treitler – violin
  • Sofie Sunnerstam – violin
  • Tove Lund – violin
  • Veronika Novotna – violin
  • Vicky Sayles – violin
  • Erik Holm – viola
  • Mathilda Brunstrøm – viola
  • Riikka Repo – viola
  • Vidar Andersson – viola
  • Daniel Thorell – cello
  • Filip Lundberg – cello
  • Pelle Hansen – cello
  • Walter McTigert – double bass
  • Martin Lood – trumpet
  • Johan Wahlgren – French horn
  • Chris Parkes – French horn
  • Håkan Björkman – trombone
  • Mikael Oskarsson – trombone
  • Jon Fridmann – additional trumpet (track 1)

Technical

  • Justin Raisen – additional production (track 10)
  • Emily Lazar – mastering
  • Dave Fridmann – mixing
  • Willem Bleeker – orchestra engineering
  • Erik Arvinder – orchestra engineering
  • Pat Jones – drum engineering (tracks 2, 5, 12, 13)
  • Jon Fridmann – mixing assistance
  • Oliver Hill – string arrangements, brass arrangements

Visuals

  • Maria Shalatova – exterior art
  • Zhe Con – interior art
  • Remi Volcair – layout design

Charts

Chart performance for Imaginal Disk
Chart (2024) Peak
position
UK Album Downloads (OCC)[8] 33

References

  1. ^ a b c Robinson, Otis (August 21, 2024). "Magdalena Bay – Mercurial World review: a time capsule of post-internet existentialism". NME. Archived from the original on August 26, 2024. Retrieved August 22, 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d Kim, Matthew (August 22, 2024). "Magdalena Bay: Imaginal Disk Review – creative pop". The Line of Best Fit. Archived from the original on August 24, 2024. Retrieved August 22, 2024.
  3. ^ a b Collar, Matt. "Imaginal Disk – Magdalena Bay". AllMusic. Archived from the original on August 28, 2024. Retrieved August 23, 2024.
  4. ^ a b "Imaginal Disk by Magdalena Bay Reviews and Tracks". Metacritic. Retrieved August 24, 2024.
  5. ^ Gaca, Anna (August 22, 2024). "Magdalena Bay: Imaginal Disk Album Review". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on August 26, 2024. Retrieved August 23, 2024.
  6. ^ a b Seip, Nick (August 19, 2024). "Magdalena Bay Imaginal Disk Review: Everything Everywhere All at Once". Slant Magazine. Archived from the original on August 22, 2024. Retrieved August 22, 2024.
  7. ^ a b Campbell, Caleb (August 22, 2024). "Magdalena Bay: Imaginal Disk". Under the Radar. Archived from the original on August 28, 2024. Retrieved August 22, 2024.
  8. ^ "Official Album Downloads Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved August 31, 2024.