# Imaginal Disk
**Imaginal Disk** is the second studio album by the American duo Magdalena Bay, released on August 23, 2024 through Mom+Pop. A self-produced concept album about a character who receives a consciousness upgrade in the form of a disk inserted into her forehead, it runs 53:35 across 15 tracks and earned a Metacritic score of 85 based on 8 critic reviews.[1](https://magdalenabay.bandcamp.com/album/imaginal-disk) • [2](https://www.allmusic.com/album/imaginal-disk-mw0004326619) • [3](https://www.metacritic.com/music/imaginal-disk/magdalena-bay/details)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Artist | Magdalena Bay, the Los Angeles duo of singer Mica Tenenbaum and multi-instrumentalist Matthew Lewin[2](https://www.allmusic.com/album/imaginal-disk-mw0004326619) |
| Release | August 23, 2024, Mom+Pop; 15 tracks, 53:35[1](https://magdalenabay.bandcamp.com/album/imaginal-disk) • [2](https://www.allmusic.com/album/imaginal-disk-mw0004326619) |
| Production | Self-produced by the duo; mixed by Dave Fridmann[3](https://www.metacritic.com/music/imaginal-disk/magdalena-bay/details) |
| Concept | Character True receives a disk "upgrade" in the forehead; her body rejects it and she must relearn what it means to be human[4](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/magdalena-bay-imaginal-disk/) |
| Title origin | Tenenbaum described the imaginal disc as a blueprint for a caterpillar's transformation into a butterfly while remaining the same organism[5](https://variety.com/2025/music/news/magdalena-bay-imaginal-disk-billie-eilish-tiktok-1236388930/) |
| Reception | Metacritic Metascore of 85, "Universal acclaim," from 8 reviews; ranked #66 Best Album of 2024[3](https://www.metacritic.com/music/imaginal-disk/magdalena-bay/details) |
| Predecessor | Follow-up to the duo's 2021 debut, *Mercurial World*[2](https://www.allmusic.com/album/imaginal-disk-mw0004326619) |
## Background
Magdalena Bay formed from a long partnership. Mica Tenenbaum, who moved from Buenos Aires to Florida at age one, and Matthew Lewin met as teenagers in a Miami high school music program; Lewin, a guitarist influenced by his father's prog and concept rock records, and Tenenbaum first played together in a prog band called Tabula Rasa before starting Magdalena Bay.[6](https://www.banquetrecords.com/magdalena-bay/imaginal-disk/LPMP770IE) The duo has been active since 2016 and is now based in Los Angeles.[4](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/magdalena-bay-imaginal-disk/) • [7](https://stereogum.com/2276873/magdalena-bay-on-how-flash-gordon-peter-gabriel-bjorks-dancer-in-the-dark-score-more-influenced-their-high-concept-new-album-imaginal-disk/interviews) Their debut album, *Mercurial World*, appeared in 2021, and the band has toured with Charli xcx and [Caroline Polachek](https://www.edgepedia.org/caroline-polachek).[2](https://www.allmusic.com/album/imaginal-disk-mw0004326619)
## Concept and title
The album tells a science-fiction story. In the setup, an extraterrestrial disk is identified as the missing evolutionary link connecting primates to humans and is inserted into the forehead; Tenenbaum's character, True, comes due for a hardware upgrade, her body rejects it, and she must then relearn "what it means to be human."[4](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/magdalena-bay-imaginal-disk/) Vulture describes the same arc as a character receiving a "consciousness upgrade" in the form of the titular imaginal disk, across 15 songs about identity, technology, and humanity.[8](https://www.vulture.com/article/magdalena-bays-imaginal-disk.html) Lewin is quick to clarify that the record is a concept album "not like Tommy."[8](https://www.vulture.com/article/magdalena-bays-imaginal-disk.html)
The title points to biology. As Tenenbaum explained, when a caterpillar becomes a butterfly there is a blueprint for itself, and even though the caterpillar is melted down and rearranged through the use of imaginal discs, it remains the same organism.[5](https://variety.com/2025/music/news/magdalena-bay-imaginal-disk-billie-eilish-tiktok-1236388930/)
## Composition and production
The duo produced the album themselves, with mixing by Dave Fridmann.[3](https://www.metacritic.com/music/imaginal-disk/magdalena-bay/details) AllMusic characterizes the sound as psychedelic new age dance-pop; Apple Music files it under Indie Pop.[2](https://www.allmusic.com/album/imaginal-disk-mw0004326619) • [9](https://music.apple.com/us/album/imaginal-disk/1751414757) Pitchfork hears '90s Madchester, the progression of Tame Impala after *Lonerism*, and peak CD-era sonics, and notes that the chorus of "Death & Romance" recalls the New Radicals' "You Get What You Give."[4](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/magdalena-bay-imaginal-disk/) The duo cited [Flash Gordon](https://www.edgepedia.org/flash-gordon), Peter Gabriel, and Björk's *Dancer in the Dark* score among their influences for the record.[7](https://stereogum.com/2276873/magdalena-bay-on-how-flash-gordon-peter-gabriel-bjorks-dancer-in-the-dark-score-more-influenced-their-high-concept-new-album-imaginal-disk/interviews)
The 15-track sequence opens with "She Looked Like Me!" (3:13) and closes with "The Ballad of Matt & Mica" (4:00), and includes "Death & Romance" (5:14), "Tunnel Vision" (5:05), "Cry for Me" (5:07), and the 58-second interlude "Feeling DiskInserted?".[1](https://magdalenabay.bandcamp.com/album/imaginal-disk) AllMusic highlights "Death & Romance" as piano-driven, evoking early-2000s [Kylie Minogue](https://www.edgepedia.org/kylie-minogue) mixed with '80s stadium prog and '90s house production, and points to "Love Is Everywhere," "Killing Time," and "Angel on a Satellite," which pairs nature sounds with baroque pop balladry.[2](https://www.allmusic.com/album/imaginal-disk-mw0004326619) Apple Music describes "Image" as a disco-inspired cut built on synths that speed up and slow down at their own whim, and the opener as blending hyperpop energy with classic-rock restraint.[9](https://music.apple.com/us/album/imaginal-disk/1751414757)
## Release and promotion
Imaginal Disk was released on August 23, 2024 on Mom+Pop.[1](https://magdalenabay.bandcamp.com/album/imaginal-disk) Physical editions include a 2024 LP (LPMP 770) and CD (CDMP 770).[2](https://www.allmusic.com/album/imaginal-disk-mw0004326619) Official music videos accompanied "That's My Floor," "Image," and "Death & Romance," and the band's official full-album upload on YouTube promotes The Imaginal Mystery Tour.[10](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPe7tn_Hju4)
The live show extends the concept. In live performances, Tenenbaum takes on the role of True, the record's central figure, a resident of a science-fiction setting in which CD-ROMs are inserted into people's foreheads to start their self-optimization.[5](https://variety.com/2025/music/news/magdalena-bay-imaginal-disk-billie-eilish-tiktok-1236388930/)
## Critical reception
Imaginal Disk received a Metascore of 85 on Metacritic, designated "Universal acclaim," based on 8 critic reviews.[3](https://www.metacritic.com/music/imaginal-disk/magdalena-bay/details) Critics framed the album as an expansion of the duo's earlier style: Pitchfork writes that the duo, which has existed since 2016 making what it calls aqueous internet pop and low-voltage funk, here sounds like that but bigger and punchier, with more keyboards, percussion, a string section, and synth harp.[4](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/magdalena-bay-imaginal-disk/) AllMusic's review describes the record as absurdist and sensual, and as pushing the debut's hyper-colored pop kaleidoscope further into a 3-D stereogram.[2](https://www.allmusic.com/album/imaginal-disk-mw0004326619) Stereogum similarly writes that the album refines the solid, shimmery foundation of *Mercurial World*, with the Miami-bred, Los Angeles-based musicians doubling down on their ideas.[7](https://stereogum.com/2276873/magdalena-bay-on-how-flash-gordon-peter-gabriel-bjorks-dancer-in-the-dark-score-more-influenced-their-high-concept-new-album-imaginal-disk/interviews)
## Compared with Mercurial World
The debut established the duo's palette; the second album scales it up. Where *Mercurial World* was, in AllMusic's image, a hyper-colored pop kaleidoscope, *Imaginal Disk* pushes further into a 3-D stereogram of psychedelic new age dance-pop.[2](https://www.allmusic.com/album/imaginal-disk-mw0004326619) Pitchfork's comparison is similar: the earlier sound of aqueous internet pop and low-voltage funk is retained but made bigger and punchier, with an expanded instrumental roster.[4](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/magdalena-bay-imaginal-disk/) Apple Music frames the new record as picking up where the duo left things on the 2021 debut.[9](https://music.apple.com/us/album/imaginal-disk/1751414757) Lewin has also said he would prefer the band be seen as an "alternative" group rather than a pop group.[4](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/magdalena-bay-imaginal-disk/)
## Legacy and later developments
Metacritic ranked Imaginal Disk #66 Best Album of 2024, categorizing it as pop, electronic, and left-field pop.[3](https://www.metacritic.com/music/imaginal-disk/magdalena-bay/details) Commercially, the song "Image" went somewhat viral on TikTok, and the duo toured on the album through 2025, including opening for [Billie Eilish](https://www.edgepedia.org/billie-eilish)'s London shows in July 2025 and festival dates such as [Lightning](https://www.edgepedia.org/lightning) in a Bottle and Wonderfront.[5](https://variety.com/2025/music/news/magdalena-bay-imaginal-disk-billie-eilish-tiktok-1236388930/) The band's official album site promotes an Imaginal Disk Anniversary Edition, Anniversary Box Set, Anniversary Audiophile Edition, and an Imaginal Disk DVD, along with an "Image (Grimes Special)" release; AllMusic also lists an Anniversary Vinyl LP for 2027.[11](https://imaginaldisk.world/) • [2](https://www.allmusic.com/album/imaginal-disk-mw0004326619)
## References
1. [Imaginal Disk | Magdalena Bay, Bandcamp](https://magdalenabay.bandcamp.com/album/imaginal-disk)
2. [Magdalena Bay: Imaginal Disk Tracks & Reviews, AllMusic](https://www.allmusic.com/album/imaginal-disk-mw0004326619)
3. [Imaginal Disk, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/music/imaginal-disk/magdalena-bay/details)
4. [Magdalena Bay: Imaginal Disk Album Review, Pitchfork](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/magdalena-bay-imaginal-disk/)
5. [Magdalena Bay on Second Album, Opening for Billie Eilish and TikTok, Variety](https://variety.com/2025/music/news/magdalena-bay-imaginal-disk-billie-eilish-tiktok-1236388930/)
6. [Magdalena Bay - Imaginal Disk, Banquet Records](https://www.banquetrecords.com/magdalena-bay/imaginal-disk/LPMP770IE)
7. [Magdalena Bay On How Flash Gordon, Peter Gabriel, Björk's Dancer In The Dark Score & More Influenced Their High-Concept New Album Imaginal Disk, Stereogum](https://stereogum.com/2276873/magdalena-bay-on-how-flash-gordon-peter-gabriel-bjorks-dancer-in-the-dark-score-more-influenced-their-high-concept-new-album-imaginal-disk/interviews)
8. [Magdalena Bay on Imaginal Disk, ABBA, Genesis, Vulture](https://www.vulture.com/article/magdalena-bays-imaginal-disk.html)
9. [Imaginal Disk - Album by Magdalena Bay, Apple Music](https://music.apple.com/us/album/imaginal-disk/1751414757)
10. [Magdalena Bay - Imaginal Disk (Full Album), YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPe7tn_Hju4)
11. [Imaginal Disk (official album site)](https://imaginaldisk.world/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Musical works and recordings › Albums and recorded releases › Studio albums › Indie and alternative albums › Studio albums of the 2020s › Studio albums by bands › Albums by North American bands*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license