Today, we are debuting the lyric video for ‘Hold On’ from Magana‘s new EP, Bad News. Watch it below. It perfectly frames this haunting, heartfelt and meditative song with a wintry visual that fits the January chill in the air as we hold onto hope for better days ahead.
Magana, is the solo project of acclaimed LA-based multi-instrumentalist and photographer Jeni Magaña. Best-known as the current bassist and backing vocalist for Mitski (recently performing on the ‘Coyote, My Little Brother‘/ ‘Buffalo Replaced‘single), Magaña is also one-half of the pen pin pop duo with Emily Moore, and has previously played with Lady Lamb, amongst others.
Magana says: “My mother has a difficult time understanding song lyrics unless she’s reading along while listening. I think of her every time I make a lyric video. For Hold On, I wanted the viewer to get a picture of a setting, but I want the characters and situations to be filled in by them. I chose a snowy walk as the backdrop for this song. There’s something inherently melancholy about snow. It makes everything feel isolated even though if you watch carefully, you can catch a glimpse of the shadows of two people. I’m imagining the song playing as a soundtrack. The POV character has chosen to take this walk and each lyric is a thought in their head.”
Last March, she returned to the Magana project after a three-year-absence with the critically acclaimed ‘Teeth’ LP, which reunited her with Audio Antihero Records (Frog / CIAO MALZ / Nosferatu D2) who issued her ‘Golden Tongue’ debut in 2016. Released to coincide with the peak illumination of the Worm Moon, her return was marked with a “Witchy Rock” sound that combined Acid Folk, Synth Pop, and Indie Rock. Magaña followed this in October with ‘DREAMS,’ a multimedia project released via the UK’s Hand Drawn Hand label, which combined Ambient Electronic music with a spoken word dream diary and a book of her photography.
The ‘Bad News’ EP is her third release in a ten month period. Teasingly described by Magaña as “Cozy Core” and “Winter Pop,” these four songs see her return to the singer-songwriter focus of works like ‘Golden Tongue’ and ‘Teeth’ but strip away the Rock and Ambient layers to emphasize words, meaning, honesty, and change.