Magdalena Bay build upon their ethereal sound with effervescent new single ‘All You Do’

Coming to prominence last year with their immaculate debut album ‘The Mercurial World’, American synth-pop duo Magdalena Bay is known for their gliding, disco-flecked pop. 

Their latest single, released in anticipation of the forthcoming deluxe edition of the album, has a lot of the same elements: Mica Tenenbaum’s misty vocals, glossy disco strings and luminous, elastic synths. But, opening with the steady strumming of guitar, ‘All You Do’ is a little earthier, grainier, leaning towards the twee, fuzzy stylings of bedroom pop.

Along with producer Matthew Lewin, Tenenbaum guides the song slickly into the transcendent ecstasy of the chorus, the grandeur building until the melody gets lost in a vortex of muffled voices and electronic distortion. There’s something of Tame Impala’s ‘Lonerism’ and ‘Currents’ in the muggy soundscape of fizzing synths and hazy vocals. 

But stripped down to its core, ‘All You Do’ is simply a sweet, endearing love song. “All you do / Is good,” sings Tenenbaum, “I live for the moment, / I cry when it’s over.” 

It’s charming in its purity, its uncomplicated sincerity. And it’s yet more evidence of Lewin’s and Tenenbaum’s consistency as crafters of effortless, melodic pop. 

Zoë White

@zoekat99

Image: ‘The Mercurial World (Deluxe)’ Official Album Cover