Here at Outernet, London
“Say hello, it’s you, the purest you.”
With Imaginal Disk as their guiding light, Mica Tenenbaum and Matthew Lewin embark on an audacious, genre-blurring celebration of pop’s futuristic edges. Adorned with theatricality, the duo elicit their purest self amidst tonight’s spectacular sold-out fever dream.
Cued by the opening notes of ‘She Looked Like Me!’, a proggy, synth-laden odyssey, Magdalena Bay initiated no ordinary pop show. Tenenbaum’s ethereal yet commanding vocals acclimatised tonight’s tone: distorted keys and a swelling crescendo drags us into this surreal universe. Wild synth refrains and guitar-led digressions of ‘Killing Time’ highlighted the duo’s seamless fusion of tight pop melodies with unpredictable, left-field production whilst the dreamily-hazed ‘True Blue Interlude’ provided an early moment of calm, awashed in a nostalgic 80s glow before the kinetic pulse of ‘Image’ launched us back into movement.
Elsewhere, ‘Secrets (Your Fire)’ and ‘You Lose!’ acted as a bridge between past and present, beset by intricate, infectious hooks; a showcase just how much the duo has refined their sound since their previous outing here. Ultimately, ‘Vampire in the Corner’ stood out as one of the night’s true showstoppers. Tenenbaum’s yearning vocals cascading over cinematic synth swells before erupting into a soaring, distorted finale, reminiscent of Kate Bush at her utmost avant-garde.
The second half of the set only amplified the night’s intensity. ‘Watching T.V.’ felt like a fever-dream interlude, pulsing with glitchy synth textures, while ‘Tunnel Vision’ and ‘Love Is Everywhere’ sent waves of collective euphoria through the audience. By the time ‘That’s My Floor’ arrived, the group had transformed our surroundings into their own neon-hued playground, inviting all to lose themselves amongst the sheer, unfiltered joy of the moment. Even at its encore, culminating in the anthemic ‘The Beginning’, felt like an apt and prescient send-off (“So if you feel low, sit back, enjoy the show / Like a kaleidoscope in technicolour tonight”).
With a fully reinvigorated live show, bolstered by dazzling visuals, theatrical staging, and a strengthened line-up, Magdalena Bay proved themselves as a resurgent, forward-thinking force in modern alt-pop. This was a show that didn’t just translate their recorded material to the stage — it reinvented it, breathing new life into each track from their purest self; immersing the audience in an experience both deeply personal and cosmically grand.
9/10
Magdalena Bay's latest LP, Imaginal Disk, is out now via Mom + Pop Music and can be found below. Photo is courtesy of Jackson Goodman whose work can be found here.
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