The music that influenced Magana’s Teeth
Magana image via press photo
Jeni Magaña, the prolific multi-instrumentalist recognized for her contributions to Mitski, pen pin, and Lady Lamb, has unleashed her latest project, Teeth. Now available through Audio Antihero Records, Teeth embodies Magaña’s self-described “Witchy Rock” sound, seamlessly weaving through acid folk, alternative pop, and krautrock influences. The album, with its fever dream quality, navigates through intensely vulnerable lyrics and vintage vocal stylings, crafting a cohesive and profound musical narrative. The songs that follow are the records that shaped this latest project.
“I recorded this during lockdown in the pandemic. The world started to look strange to me, as if I was an alien plopped down in the middle of Los Angeles but with all these human feelings. I wanted this album to reflect that not only in the lyrics but in the soundscapes as well. I wanted it to sound like earth and space at the same time, so I arranged acoustic guitars, strings, and winds to weave in and out of synth lines and electric guitar solos.”
Blaze McKenzie – ‘Never Faking’
Love the vocal effect that comes and goes during the song. Love the weird guitar line that sort of brings you into a trance. And I think the subject of the song is unique and relatable. I wrote a few songs based on this idea (none of them made it onto this record, but maybe they’ll be on the next one). Fun fact, I played the clarinet on this song.
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Big Thief – ‘Animals’
Adrianne has such conviction in her vocals. Soft or loud, high or low, she’s putting everything she has into those words. I sort of feel like the whole band is doing the same. It makes the whole record feel so human. And there’s a no-rules sort of feeling to the whole thing.
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Fleet Foxes – ‘Wading In Waist-High Water’
This song makes me remember to breathe. It’s the sort of arrangement that I put on in my car and suddenly I’m able to see the sun shining through the trees at a particular angle, or the soft smile on the woman crossing the street, instead of just cursing LA traffic. It feels like a beginning (it literally is the first song on the record).
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Beach House – ‘Wildflower’
A dreamy but still spacious arrangement to still allow the lyrics to come through. The thing about adding so much space to a track is it’ll quickly become overcrowded if you’re not careful with the arrangement. Beach House is really good at this.
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Andy Shauf – ‘I’m Not Falling Asleep’
The clarinets! This arrangement! The choices with the sparse instruments and vocal harmonies at the end. 10/10 was very inspired by this.
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