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Magdalena Bay, the Los Angeles-based alt-pop duo consisting of Mica Tenenbaum and Matthew Lewin, are still on their <\/em>Imaginal Mystery Tour, promoting their 2024 album Imaginal Disk, <\/em>and also developing a full-length movie to accompany it. Amid all this, they have surprisingly just shared two more singles, \u201cHuman Happens\u201d and \u201cPaint Me A Picture,\u201d following their previous dual-track drop in September. These four singles are the first glimpses into their new music, and listeners are already captivated. While honing their romantic and maximalist sound, these tracks find the duo evolving \u2014 both emotionally and lyrically.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n While the singles were officially released to streaming Sept. 26 and Oct. 17, this isn\u2019t the first time fans have experienced them. On the band\u2019s current tour, <\/em>they\u2019ve played some of these tracks already: \u201cSecond Sleep\u201d goes over particularly well in a live setting, taking audiences on a musical and emotional journey built through its contrasting sections. The verses are laid back with a groovy bass line and simple percussion while rising strings and rapid drum fills build toward the triumphant chorus. Then, the lush orchestration drops off like a waterfall dissipating into a river. There may be an instrumental disconnect in this track due to the rapid shift of the backing music, but in the sparser sections, the lyrics really shine through. They advocate for choosing love even when it\u2019s demanding, instead of \u201csleeping in\u201d and avoiding emotional confrontation. In true Magdalena Bay fashion, \u201cSecond Sleep\u201d ends with a final, electrifying surge that makes its statement about love feel that much more necessary.\u00a0<\/p>\n If \u201cSecond Sleep\u201d is an anthem played on stage, then \u201cStar Eyes\u201d is a song you might hear coming from the other room where a group of friends are jamming out \u2014 a track that features steady percussion, a melancholic piano line and soft saxophone. But this calm is only temporary; the song comes to a dissonant end with the strings squealing upward and the horns joining in, adding bursts of light. Although some of Magdalena Bay\u2019s music is heavily layered and hard to follow, there is a refreshing sense of clarity in \u201cStar Eyes,\u201d where no sound is out of place.<\/p>\n While the September set of singles\u2019 themes feel like individual revelations for Tenenbaum, her two newest singles, \u201cHuman Happens\u201d and \u201cPaint Me A Picture,\u201d find her commenting on issues plaguing our world today. \u201cPaint Me A Picture\u201d delves into the quest for authenticity in an age when social media makes emotions and experiences feel artificial, making it even harder to connect with others. Tenenbaum sings that \u201cThe camera doesn\u2019t really see \/ It just stares,\u201d and offers that she\u2019d rather have someone \u201cpaint (her) a picture\u201d \u2014 a physical symbol of human creation and an emotional act of genuine self-expression.<\/p>\n