The Mirrors - Lights and Offerings Review

When you press play on the debut album by Mirrors and the first track Fear Of Drowning begins, you could be mistaken for thinking it was an electro/synth version of Baba O'Reilly. Wouldn't that be weird. However, it isn't. In fact Mirrors couldn't sound less like the Who if they tried. Thank God, that would be rather turgid. They do however sound like loads of synth pop groups before them, with tracks as synthetic as Lady GaGa's wardrobe. Also, the first track is bloody long, over 6 minutes!

It feels like the album just floats along, aimlessly offering nothing until Into The Heart arrives to kick start proceedings properly. This is a real stinger, something obvious influences Tears for fears would be proud of. A dance floor filler that also has an emotional side, its Mirrors showing exactly what they're about. It's a curious track that manages to sound like Bono guesting on a Hot Chip single (imagine that!), surely worth a re-release as the bands profile inevitably grows....full text There's a couple of 7" singles, a picture and a thing with words on, all in a black, stencilled box. A badge would've been nice but Mirrors are already looking at a 7 out of 10 for Lights And Offerings and we haven't even listened to it yet.

As an added bonus, the album is bloody lovely. If any of you heard that amazing Cold Waves and Minimal Electronics compilation that came out last year, Mirrors sound like one of those long lost European synthpop bands - bedroom analogue romantics.

There's a slight and very "now" Robert Smith-y yearning to the Brighton trio's vocals, underscored with OMD's warm pulsing bass and fondness for a chorus. Mirrors aren't afraid to layer their initially economical programming with epic, sweeping, sheets of noise, adding a sense of emotional hysteria. These are all big, ambitious proper pop songs, though they're at their best when simple and sweet, as on Hide And Seek or the heartfelt Something On Your Mind. But we like it all. Hooray.

Sometimes good things come in big packages. Send us big packages, is what we're basically saying....full text Mirrors emerged in 2009, found themselves namechecked among 2010's rash of Bright New Hopes, and it's taken them a full year to release their debut.


The delay has been worthwhile. The sharp-suited Brighton synth quartet have delivered 10 glistening, pristine instalments of dignified electro-pop. Well, nine, and one perfectly serviceable cover. It's an album whose lineage can be traced back to Kraftwerk, which is odd when you consider it was recorded in a hippie commune in rural Sussex....full text