With the current success and circulation of Imaginal Disk, it’s become clear that pop duo Magdelena Bay are, for a lack of better words and a desire to clickbait, being slept on. Let me take you back in time to appreciate the perfect summer album: 2021’s Mercurial World.

Traversing the botanic outback, we are on a journey in Edna (the Toyota Prado) to the 2022 rendition of Realm Riparia (a festival which delights in all interactions whimsical and dancemoves organic). Greeted by a person named Turtle and invited to drink communal broth – one of those delightful experiences that feels almost fictional – we are no longer Canberrans; we are Riparians. Backseat driver Jimmy unassumingly queues a song. So it goes, ‘Secrets (Your Fire)’ not only claimed first place on my Spotify Wrapped that year (mind you, I discovered it in November) but earned its rightful station in my cherished playlist ‘Songs that are perfect to me’.

A mosaic of Polachek layering, kaleidoscopic dreamscapes, nostalgia that is both universal and singular, ice cubes clinking in a lemon-lime-and-bitters, cats in pretty pink bows with dizzy eyes, the apex of your first nang and the OMighty IG model in your feed… Mercurial World sonically and visually cradles a luminescent oracle (see album art by @ram__han).

Pop albums are about pop songs; as cohesive as Mercurial World is, it’s important to recognise its discrete components in their own right. ‘The End’ is an ironic beginning – it takes no genius to get it – and yet I revel in the kitsch every time. “If the beginning is the end, and the end is the beginning, then what’s the end anyway?” Mica’s vocals glide like honey as she delivers the concept in one fell swoop. The title track, ‘Mercurial World’, is musically buoyant and cathartically dynamic, hollowing itself out in the pre chorus so its swarming vocals land like a tidal wave on the hook. ‘Dawning of the Season’ radiates a ‘Can’t Get You out of My Head’ Minogue quality which feels intentional considering the album title’s reference to Madonna’s ‘Material Girl’ – the font from which Kylie was born. It is a quintessential hands up, eyes closed, head swaying on the Ivy dancefloor track. Modulation in the last repeated chorus swells and chauffeurs seamlessly into the next tune.

Which is the duo’s magnum opus: “Secrets (Your Fire)”. Without a doubt one of the best songs of all time. I acknowledge this is subjective but also I’m right! From the warm opening synths until the woozy city-pop coda, a beaming smile is massaged into your face and settles there for four minutes. The track’s diatonic main melody is slyly repetitive and instantly memorable. Mica’s labyrinthine vocals are feather-light but rich, layered to create an endearing interplay between different levels of the mix. These elements aren’t just harmonic, they’re rhythmic too, playing naturally off an infectious G-funk groove. Wrapped in tasteful reverb and delay, the effect is spacious and enchanted soundscape.

“You Lose!” is a screw-you anthem at a driving tempo that unfairly suffers from its placement following Mercurial World’s astonishing opening suite. Airy synths and a pulsating beat roll through ‘Chaeri’,  whose major sevenths gleam persona when they intersect with Mica’s agile vocals. It’s clear why the track is a staple within the indie pop scene. ‘Halfway’ features uncharacteristically weak lyricism that oddly enhances the experience: “No matter where you start or where you end / you are in between the where and then / you are in the middle of the loop!” The focus is on atmosphere not meaning. Meaning is derived from feeling. Mica’s voice is celestial; a modern-day Kate Bush. Elsewhere, the reference actually does come through in her writing: see her harsh, pondering lyrics over the fairy melody of “Hysterical Us”.

A conclusion where we get to “feel low, sit back, enjoy the show” is promised in “The Beginning”. Every note is an invitation, every lyric a whispered secret. Your life absorbs this album – I can testify that much – which is exactly the point. Mercurial World begs us to embrace the moments that make us feel alive and loved. MagBay’s DIY nature is the very ethos of indie pop and I for one cannot believe in 2024 we have Grimes to thank.

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Georgia Dedes

1 November 2024