Imaginal Disk

When this release made waves last summer I listened to it but evidently I wasn't paying enough attention to it because I just kind of forgot about it immediately. "That's My Floor" came on my shuffle and I was stunned, I decided to come back to this record to give it another listen. Wow, am I glad I did that. Magdalena Bay is not a real person, it's actually a married couple where the husband produces and the wife sings and stars in the music videos. It's a loose concept album where you don't necessarily need to know the story but it does elevate the music and the lyrics to another level. The production is incredible, it's seriously impressive how dense and varied these instrumentals are while sounding so crisp and clear throughout the record. And while synthpop and hyperpop are fast approaching oversaturated status, Imaginal Disk manages to sound innovative and nostalgic at the same time. I think a large contributor to this feeling of freshness and quality is that many of the instrumentals use real instruments (or at least they're produced well enough that I cannot tell the difference) and many of them have some rock qualities, reminiscent of bands such like No Doubt. It really sets it firmly apart from similar records. The concept album aspect of the record will go over most peoples' heads, and that's ok. Even if you don't care to listen to the lyrics or explore the themes of the record, I think a lot of its cohesiveness and immaculate flow can be attributed to the fact that it is an introspective story being told in album form. I don't want to pit to bad bitches against one another but it's difficult to not compare this to Brat, which dominated the summer Imaginal Disk released, and to some extent they explore the same sonic landscape. I really like Brat, it's a fun album with some fantastic songs but Brat is like finding a sick kebab place when you're drunk and having one of the best kebabs of your life, Imaginal Disk feel like a hazy memory of that one time my dad nailed his bolognese sauce that you'll probably never taste again. Favorite tracks: Death & Romance, Image, The Balad of Matt and Mica, That's My Floor, Watching T.V.