Magana

Jeni Magaña creates haunted Alternative Pop. Having taken the long road from Bakersfield, CA to Berklee College, MA to Brooklyn, NY, her musical journey included a diverse array of experiences (such as commercial jingles and performing with Dropkick Murphys) before she arrived on Audio Antihero for her ‘Golden Tongue‘ debut. This EP was praised by sites like The Line of Best Fit, The Le Sigh, London in Stereo, and Gideon Coe of BBC 6 Music. Magaña is also a photographer, she accompanied this debut with a photo essay for Gold Flake Paint.

Since then she toured the world with Mitski (from Jimmy Kimmel to Glastonbury) and Lady Lamb, released music through labels in multiple continents, relocated to Los Angeles, and formed the acclaimed pop duo pen pin with Emily Moore.

In 2024, Magana returned to Audio Antihero with the gorgeous Witchy Rock sounds of her ‘Teeth‘ LP, appropriately released on March 25th to coincide with the peak illumination of the Worm Moon. The record was praised by Post-Trash, The Alternative, and the BBC’s Jill O’Sullivan and Deb Grant–it was also featured as Roddy Hart’s “Record of Note” on BBC Radio Scotland. That same month, she also played on Mitski’s new recordings of “Coyote, My Little Brother” and “Buffalo Replaced” for the Spotify Singles series.

The first instalment in the “Teeth Trilogy” (or “the Ten Months of Teeth“) was followed in October by the ‘DREAMS‘ multi-media project, released as a cassette and photography book via the UK’s Hand Drawn Hand label. This unique ambient dream diary found support on KEXP’s Pacific Notions show. The trilogy’s final instalment, ‘Bad News,‘ was issued by Audio Antihero in January 2025. It was premiered on The Alternative, and received support from Beats Per Minute, Gold Flake Paint, Spill Magazine, Rockdelux, and JENESAISPOP, in addition to reaching #1 in both Hype Machine’s “Popular Now” and “Most Posted” charts. For IDIOTEQ, she again produced a photo essay to accompany the EP, and for Various Small Flames, she also wrote a short story related to each song.

Magana Press:

“The sound of late-night emotional fragility writ large…Recalling Torres and Sharon Van Etten at their most intimate moments…Magana’s parched vocal is a complete heartbreaker.” – The Line of Best Fit

“Magana wades through earth and space on Teeth.” – Post-Trash

“Brutally vulnerable and beautifully breathtaking, ‘Teeth’ is as visceral and raw as it is dramatically layered: Magana’s sophomore album is an uncompromisingly intimate and spiritual rock record reckoning with trauma, inner connection, the fragility of the human experience, and what it means to be alive.” – Atwood Magazine

“Out today in conjunction with the full moon, Magana’s Teeth wraps up snapshots from singer Jeni Magaña’s past in a lush and mesmerizing soundscape, each track feeling like an invocation of a particular memory, feeling, or train of thought. Instrumentally, Teeth is a mosaic, with crunchy guitars, airy woodwinds, gorgeous strings, and synths that sound like they were summoned from a different dimension blending together beautifully.” – The Alternative

“Nodding to the bedroom guitar pop beginnings of St Vincent or Cat Power…delivers the haunted resilience of someone who has found self-acceptance.” – London in Stereo

“Through music I have learned the shape of desire – contoured and faceted, with the texture of velvet and the sheen of spilt oil on the blacktop. In Magana I feel it again.” – Collapse Board

“Magana enters the scene guns blazing with the simple request to be the real deal or no deal at all.” – Impose Magazine

“Through her song, Magana has the final word — her voice is heard and it’s a wonder how anyone could have ignored it in the first place.” – The Le Sigh

“Teeth is a testimony to one’s bravery in facing what they have always feared, and trying to find a way to escape from one’s own isolation.” – KRUI

“Magana has a dramatic, floating vocal style that puts her in line with a lot of the big “indie folk” acts of today, but it’s her embrace of more adventurous instrumentation that sets Teeth apart from the crowd more than anything else.” – Rosy Overdrive

“With what is just the briefest of snapshot Magana has invited us into her world and in the process created something which feels expansive and breathlessly travelled.” – Gold Flake Paint