Mercurial World
by Magdalena Bay
Metascore
78

Generally favorable reviews - based on 8 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 8
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 8
  3. Negative: 0 out of 8
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  1. The Guardian
    Oct 14, 2021
    60
    That tension between sweetness and distortion lurches across the album, coming together best in Chaeri, a gothic house devotional to a destitute friend. Tenenbaum seems to writhe through her agonies as she wonders whether she could have done more.
  2. Sputnikmusic
    Oct 15, 2021
    58
    Mercurial Bay is bland and overpolished and probably insecure and definitely destined to make mincemeat of fickle hearts all over the web. It is good and shiny like an overviewed but freshly refiltered Instagram photo of a Hollywood sunset.

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User Score
8.4

Universal acclaim- based on 30 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 27 out of 30
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 30
  3. Negative: 2 out of 30
  1. leumassregor
    Nov 4, 2021
    8
    'Mercurial World' starts off strong and ends strong yet unfortunately has its moments where the spotlight drifts off of it. One moment you'll'Mercurial World' starts off strong and ends strong yet unfortunately has its moments where the spotlight drifts off of it. One moment you'll be amazed, then the next you'll be like "meh". Through its brief moments of inconsistency and underwhelming video game sounding production, there are wonderful moments of beautiful rich synths and effortless transitions. Overall, this is a great and sudden improvement for Magdalena Bay compared to their last project.… Full Review »
  2. AmosLeezy
    Oct 19, 2021
    10
    Absolutely solid pop album, songs are catchy and it got great production, one of the best pop album of 2021
  3. AShinyG1ratina
    Jun 21, 2022
    7
    The Great 2021 Re-Listen - Part 1: Magdalena Bay's Mercurial Soundscapes
    Hi guys, so I'm doing a re-listen to all of my 77+ rated albums of    The Great 2021 Re-Listen - Part 1: Magdalena Bay's Mercurial Soundscapes
    Hi guys, so I'm doing a re-listen to all of my 77+ rated albums of 2021 before the year ends. The first album I decided to relisten to was Magdalena Bay's highly-touted debut album, Mercurial World. While I did 100% understand the appeal on my first couple of listens, something wasn't quite clicking for me like things tend to do with great albums, so I ended up rating this below an 80, at a respectable score of 79.
    I must've been malding from playing Smash or something that day because holy **** did it click on my re-listen. This is almost exactly the vibes I was expecting to get out of the new Porter Robinson album but with absolutely none of the Porter-isms that made me not like it as much as I wanted to. The writing here is whimsical, bittersweet, and lovely. The production is surreal and takes advantage of some of the most wildly beautiful soundscapes I've heard all year. The best examples of this would probably be my three favorite songs on the album, which are Secrets (Your Fire), You Lose!, and Chaeri.
    Something that I definitely didn't appreciate until this re-listen was how great the vocals from Mica Tenenbaum are. They add even more grace to a soundscape that's so other-worldly where you have to do several double-takes per song to make sure you're getting the full picture.
    One thing I want to note is how busy this album is, an aspect that makes it so much more interesting than 99% of the other chillwave albums I've heard. Magdalena Bay's producer, Matthew Levin, isn't afraid at all to incorporate concepts that are incredibly alien to a genre like chillwave such as volume dynamics and overactive basslines. Synthpop producers seem to have an irrational fear of their music being loud, a trait that Levin, thankfully, doesn't share. Some of the synth and string swells on this thing are absolutely orgasmic.

    Yeah, I don't really know what I was missing the first time I heard this. Hopefully there are more albums like this that just click with me on second listen during this event.

    Best Tracks: Dawning of the Season, Secrets (Your Fire), You Lose!, Chaeri, Hysterical Us, Domino, Dreamcatching

    Worst Tracks: Something for 2, Follow the Leader

    Score Change: +5    … Full Review »
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