Wednesday, November 30, 2011
New Music Mirror Mode, Veils EP
Posted by Chad Radford @ChadRad on Wed, Nov 30, 2011 at 9:25 PM
An intriguing dynamic unravels as these six songs play out, four of which — “Veils,” “Hexa,” “Loops” and “Sunken Eyes” were written by Taylor when the band was still just a glimmer on his laptop. The remaining two, “Bring Me The Sun” and “Star Player,” both written by Wakefield, are notably different — bolder in terms of nuance, texture and breadth. But they do compliment Taylor’s washes of angelic minimal rhythms that are piled atop each other in heaps and clusters. Taylor’s ethereal wailing snakes along throughout each of his songs, adding yet another rhythmic component, while Wakefield’s voice is big, booming and rich with gothic tendencies. Comparing his presence to that of a more wistful Ian Curtis of Joy Division (minus crushing themes of isolation) is grand but appropriate, and made all the more intriguing when noting the subtle early New Order nods that are hiding in the song structures.
The recording isn’t as much a low-fi production as it is a low-budget bedroom endeavor in which both Wakefield and Taylor keep their wits about them while sculpting textures and hypnotic soundscapes that bear the thin, but compelling nature of computer-based songwriting. “Loops” emerges as the first hesitant step in balancing the fractured rock /electro push and pull that has arisen between these expert knob-twiddlers. As a result there are an awful lot of ideas crammed into these songs. “Loops” is the most fleshed-out of the bunch, corralling the many directions in which Mirror Mode could possibly go from here.
If there is a weak link to Veils it’s that there are so many ideas being thrown around, culminating at times with imagery and sentiments that are cryptic beyond what's intended. But that's only natural for a band that's been around a little more than three months. Still, at such an early stage of the group's development, these six songs are both edgy and evolved, cementing Mirror Mode's place amid the finest electronic pop units the city has to offer.
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