Los Angeles, CA · synth-pop · art-pop · hyperpop

Magdalena Bay

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Maximalist internet-native synth-pop, with a live show built to match the density of the records — lore, visuals, and hooks in equal supply.

Mica Tenenbaum and Matthew Lewin met as teenagers in Miami in 2011, placed together in a classic rock cover band before writing their own material as the progressive rock outfit Tabula Rasa. Magdalena Bay formed in 2016 while the pair were away at college, and continued as a long-distance collaboration until they moved to Los Angeles in 2018, where they have been based since.

The duo took their name from an administrator at Lewin's old job, and built their sound around the alternative pop of Grimes, Chairlift and Charli XCX, filtering it through 1980s synth textures, bubblegum-bright melodies and stretches of neo-psychedelia and drum programming that drift further out. Tenenbaum sings and writes, while Lewin handles most of the production.

Alongside the music, Magdalena Bay became known for a steady stream of self-made videos, including informational clips about the music industry, and a kitschy, DIY visual style drawn from early-2000s internet culture. That aesthetic carries through the albums and into their concept-heavy records, which reward close listening.

Their catalogue includes two studio albums, three EPs and three mixtapes. Mercurial World arrived in 2021, followed by Imaginal Disk in 2024, which drew wide critical acclaim and was later adapted into a musical film of the same name. Onstage, Tenenbaum and Lewin are joined by drummer Nick Villa and keyboardist Myles Sweeney, extending the visual language of the records into the live show.

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