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They just keep getting better. Musical partnership Magdalena Bay can feel impossible to pin down, having scattered themselves across genres and influences. Their musical journey has been one of exploration, a dip into each tiny nook and cranny of sound. With the arrival of the two new singles “Second Sleep” and “Star Eyes,” the duo have found themselves at a level more wonderful than the last, solidifying both a more definitive sound and proof of their undeniably lasting appeal.

“Second Sleep” and “Star Eyes,” released Sept. 26, have been labelled by the pair, composed of Mica Tenenbaum and Matthew Lewin, as a “spiritual successor” to their 2024 studio album “Imaginal Disk.” Recorded towards the end of the album’s sessions, the two singles are an extension of the world they created through the album. This being said, it is notable that rather than simply feeling like a return to the “Imaginal Disk” sound, they come off more as having something fresh to say, an expansion of the mystical universe that Magdalena Bay kicked off with the release of the album. It is not a redundant reminder, but really a pleasurable and welcome culmination of an inventive journey.

Kicking off this new sonic exploration is “Second Sleep,” a song that finds its roots in a variation of sounds, rising in a more jazzy, laid-back build-up, and crashing down in a booming, orchestral landscape. The track finds the delicate balance between maximalist and minimalist, and alternates both in a manner that never comes across as jarring. The track carries the listener through the highs and lows, smoothly incorporating the keys, the pulsing drums, and the expansive underlying strings. The song soars and then plants its feet on the ground, creating a foundation that amplifies the highs. Building into an explosive outro, the introduction of the electric guitar sets the track ablaze, culminating in a cathartic payoff for the listener.

The lyrics, in true Magdalena Bay fashion, explore the liminal and the surreal, the spaces in between what is real and what is occurring on a different plane. The lyrics can seem arbitrary, but they never seem pretentious. If anything, the randomness merely adds to the dreamlike atmosphere of the track: “I’m suffering, do you feel this cold? / I’ll warm you up when we get to Hell / Second sleep is callin’ out to me / If I don’t wake up, I’ll see you in my dreams.” Building off of the same surreal themes of “Imaginal Disk,” the song still carries an essence of the initial project’s vision, offering a new menu of concepts and dreamlike thoughts for the listener to toy with.

“Star Eyes” concludes this release with an incredibly spacey and atmospheric note. Commencing somberly, the track opens on a lonely piano, with the slow fade-in of a fluttering saxophone. The song feels wide open, almost uncertain, creating ample space for it to build up. Slowly the sound becomes more rounded out, completed with the addition of a slow drum and strings that breathe. The song is mostly instrumental, allowing for the wide-open space to completely take over, creating an ending that envelops the listener in a symphony of instruments all on their own journeys. The track swells into complete bliss as it carries itself away.

The build-up of “Star Eyes” feels like the end of a journey, full of hope and uncertainty for the future, only equipped with the knowledge that it goes on forever. The lyrics also carry on the grand, existential thought that “Imaginal Disk” captured: “So you’ve gotta face the knife away / Said, “No more yesterday” / You try to let tomorrow’s sun rise / Instead of wondering why / Oh, star eyes.” The lyrics of the track end upon these notes, and they encapsulate the broadness and magic of just how grand the song, and this musical phase, feels for Magdalena Bay.

“Second Sleep” and “Star Eyes” reach new heights in the wake of “Imaginal Disk,” as these tracks manage to capture a familiar sound and render it more full, more complete, and more defined. The choice to release these two tracks over a year after the release of the album with which they were recorded could have been a poor one, one that could have proved that perhaps the artists did not have anything new to say. This could not be further from the truth. The release of these two singles adds something new to the conversation, and expands greatly upon the firm foundation that “Imaginal Disk” built.

The two songs not only close this musical chapter on an incredibly high note, but solidify the notion that Magdalena Bay trusts in what they are doing. They are sure of their ability to produce something that can only add to their credibility. With these singles, the duo has cemented itself as an act that will almost certainly continue to fill out their sound, constantly reinventing and adding to what they can display to listeners. They are providing a promise to keep things fresh, and no matter what happens, they are committed to creating a wonderfully explorative experience every single time.

—Staff writer Ariana N. Barillas Santizo can be reached at ariana.barillassantizo@thecrimson.com.