A few weeks shy of releasing their debut album Mercurial World, indie-pop duo Magdalena Bay (aka Los Angeles’ Mica Tenenbaum and Matthew Lewin) have shared a fun new video for their new single “You Lose!,” a song about “trying to be a musician and feeling like time for success is always running out.” Following earlier singles “Chaeri” and “Secrets (Your Fire),” “You Lose!” opens with bouncing synths and glitchy gaming samples before moving into an upbeat rhythm, which comes topped by Tenenbaum’s breathy vocals.
Meanwhile, the video has the duo engaging in a number of no-win scenarios, like dropping an ice-cream scoop on the ground and tucking into a bowl of spaghetti, only to find that it’s actually a bunch of worms. Hate when that happens.
Earlier in the summer, Magdalena Bay opened up to Pitchfork about their obsession with Y2K-era websites and writing songs born of a quarter-life crisis. “Obviously, as pop musicians, time is something that’s constantly on our minds,” Lewin said. “So this idea is like a coping mechanism: Where you end up when you die is the same place as where you end up before you’re born, right? So if those two points are the same, then there is no true end. The lack of finality is comforting.”
Watch the “You Lose!” video above.
Mercurial World is out 10/8 via Luminelle Recordings. Pre-order it here.