Song 22 // Magdalena Bay - "U Wanna Dance?"
Oh, if you wanna dance shimmy on time
Oh, if you wanna dance see you in line
I'm the girl when you wanna get down
Just a little longer keep it up now
Some of the most interesting and fun music to come out over the past few years has been pop music. Whether it’s been artists like Charli XCX, SOPHIE, or Caroline Polachek, the sounds coming from the experimental boundaries of pop music have flourished online and found dedicated and passionate fanbases. Another band to add to this growing list of pop innovators is Magdalena Bay.
One of the benefits of this newsletter is that I can focus on a single song from an artist or band and hope to win you over to listen to it. However, when I end up loving the entire band’s discography it proves much harder to narrow it down to a sole selection. This is another one of those instances so while I’m featuring “U Wanna Dance?” by Magdalena Bay, I hope the rest of this newsletter persuades you to do a deep dive into all of their music.
Magdalena Bay is a pop duo consisting of Mica Tenenbaum and Matthew Lewin and their music is drenched in 80s nostalgia, neon lights, and synths. The duo has been around for only a few years but has already been quite prolific. Since 2019, they’ve released two Mini Mixes (EPs consisting of quickly produced and written songs) and an eight-song EP with more music on the way. “U Wanna Dance?” is the catchy and danceable hit from their “mini mix, vol. 1” collection of songs.
It's a fucked up world
Are you cool enough to get it?
Fit enough to sweat it?
See me driving, gonna rev it
One of my favorite aspects of Magdalena Bay is how their strong musical vision extends directly to their visual aesthetics. They have a music video for every single song from both their Mini Mixes and their “A Little Rhythm and a Wicked Feeling” EP. Throughout all their videos they utilize a distinct style that relies on an old camcorder, green screen special effects, and plenty of 2000s-era internet animations. The music video for “U Wanna Dance?” is no different and includes floating carpets, falling diamonds, dancing skeletons, and more.
With an old worldview
So emotional and ready
Tiene el alma heavy no te escondas dime baby
If you want to (Uh)
And you want to (Na, na, na, na)
In “U Wanna Dance?” Tenenbaum’s singing yearns us to answer the song’s title question as Lewin’s synths lead us to move our feet in response. The song offers a wider glimpse inside of Magdalena Bay’s world – a world they are more than happy to show us by driving with the top down past nostalgic visions of palm trees soundtracked by pulsating synthesizers and drum beats — all through the screens in front of us. A joyride through the obscure, experimental edges of the internet.
It's a fucked up world
But you've got a girl
If you want to
And you want to (Na, na, na, na)
And you're turning blue
Like you're dying just to get it
You see me in my leather
And you're taking off your sweater
Cause you want to
Yeah, you want to (Na, na, na, na)
Magdalena Bay’s approach to combining music and videos allows them to experiment and give their art another dimension. So much so, that a song without visual companionship seems incomplete — like a novel without a cover. It also offers a vision into the future of what their live shows might have in store for their fans.
One of reasons their music is so addicting is because Magdalena Bay has an irresistible way of making pop music fun. They combine the best elements of 80s songs and bring it in to their songwriting process. The result is a sound uniquely influenced by the past that collides with our hyper-accessible internet age, where everything is available from the screens in front of us.
So take a moment to get lost in Magdalena Bay’s retro world and you’ll never want to go anywhere else.
Face yourself
Erase yourself for love (for love)
I know you really want it
// press play
View past songs here. Share this song with the person watching music videos with you at 2 in the morning.