Human Happens / Paint Me A Picture by Magdalena Bay ; Review

Introduction

Cover for "Paint Me A Picture" by Magdalena Bay

Hi again! I'm back with another new music review! Magdalena Bay is back again with another release. Color me surprised, because they released a double-feature single only a few weeks ago. And yet, here they are again, with two more new songs. I'm going to give some initial thoughts of these songs!

Human Happens

Cover for "Human Happens" by Magdalena Bay

This song plays with some interesting themes, specifically about how humans are imperfect beings. They explore how this plays into more normal aspects of our lives, rather than being a commentary about society as a whole. In the chorus, there are lyrics that point to that, like how we tend to go after whatever we want regardless of the outcome. They refer to several different popular tales throughout history that acknowledge this too, such as Icarus and The Helen of Troy. It's a simple yet effective display of their skills. The production is also quite nice, but it's not necessarily different from anything they've done before. I still like the gritty sound of the guitars during the verses. It may not be the most insane song they've every pulled off, but I think it's still definitely a highlight form them.

Paint Me A Picture

I really like the conceit of this song as well. It's simpler compared to "Human Happens", but I think that all the elements of this song come together nicely. It's basically about taking people at face value rather than thinking so deeply all the time about what other people may be thinking. There's also some aspect of how this can play into love as well. As people, we tend to judge people and be judged in return. It also talks about how we sometimes like to put other people before us just because it's the easiest path for us, despite maybe putting us worse-off. This song tells us to be more invested in the here-and-now and to linger in every moment with the people in our lives. It's a very good message that I think many would benefit from hearing. I don't have many notes for the production on this song; it mostly just follows the typical dreamy/surreal indie pop they've been cooking up recently. Still very good though!

Final Thoughts

I think as a package, this bundle of singles is better than the last. But "Second Sleep" is still probably the most compelling song out of all these singles. However, I think that these two new songs are still very good and are going to be in my cycle of music I'm currently listening to. I hope that if you haven't listened, that maybe this mini review was enough to pique your interest. I really love Magdalena Bay and hope to see them grow more. With that, I don't have much else to say. So, thanks as always for reading, and have a good rest of the week!

Earworm ~-~-~o

Thanks for reading!

-Joey :)