Okay, I didn’t actually cry, but I would be lying if I said they didn’t cause a few tears to well up. The Floridian electronic pop duo Magdalena Bay graced College Street Music Hall with their Imaginal Mystery Tour. The name is inspired by their newest album, “Imaginal Disk,” which got rave reviews from critics and casuals alike. 

There’s so much to explore in terms of its concept and musical motifs they use throughout the album; every time I listen, I find something new to appreciate. It is one of my favorite albums of 2024, and when the tour dates were released in December, I knew I had to go.

After over five months of waiting, I finally got to see Mica Tenenbaum and Matt Lewin live at College Street, and they did not disappoint. Before we could get to their performance, the opener, Sam Austins, helped warm up the crowd.

He’s famous for his breakout song, “Seasons,” which blew up on TikTok, and everyone in the crowd was excited to hear it. His sound is pretty similar to Bay’s, with ground-shaking dance production rife with catchy hooks. Austins looked like he had a ton of fun interacting with the crowd for his first time in New Haven, and the Connecticut natives in the crowd gave him just as much love back.

Magdalena Bay started the set with the first song off of “Imaginal Disk,” called “She Looked Like Me!” The way this song builds is unlike any I’ve ever heard, and every time I hear it, it reminds me of Imogen Heap performances I’ve seen online. When the drums and 808s came in, I was absolutely floored, and I knew I was in for a fantastic show.

They immediately followed that up with one of my favorite songs, “Killing Time.” The bass-led track has such a fun bounciness to it, and the hook is just infectious. The lyrics are fun and a bit confusing, but to me, that just adds to her whimsy. After performing an interlude, they jumped right into one of their most popular songs, “Image.” This one got everyone in the room jumping, and it was a top-three song of the show in my opinion. With the crowd bringing their best energy of the night, combined with arguably their best written hook made for an unforgettable experience.

Moving towards the middle of the setlist, there were a few non-“Imaginal Disk” songs that I discovered from this show that I liked a lot. “Chaeri had an eerier sound than a lot of the other songs on the setlist, which stuck out a lot to me. “Secrets (Your Fire)” felt like it could’ve been on the new album. The vocal distortion with the busy synths and, of course, a crazy hook made this an instant addition to my playlist.

Going back to “Imaginal Disk,” there were two songs I didn’t know at all before the show that, after a lot of retrospective listening, are probably my two favorite songs from the duo. First, the post-chorus of “Watching T.V.” totally made the song for me. When Tenenbaum sang, “It’s time to meet the monsters around you,” I think I got goosebumps. After the second time, there’s so much going on in the production, and it’s all so beautiful.

Closer to the end of the set, “Cry For Me” thoroughly impressed me. If you know me at all, you know I’m a huge fan of strings in my pop music, and this one hit that nail right on the head. The harmonies in this song are my favorite on the whole album, and the instrumental breaks are so impactful in how the song builds, especially in its grand finale toward the end. The entire outro marks this song as a Magdalena Bay masterpiece.

To round out the show, the duo went to their biggest hit. They played all three versions of “Killshot,” including the sped-up and slowed versions, which I can only assume was targeted for me, considering how often I listen to the slowed version (I promise it’s just as good as the original). They also played “The Ballad of Matt & Mica,” the last song of “Imaginal Disk,” before ironically closing out the show with “The Beginning.”

“Imaginal Disk” has become a very important album to me in such a short time, and to see it performed live in an intimate venue like College Street was a dream. If you somehow have the chance to see Magdalena Bay before their tour closes I can’t recommend that or their album enough.