(Temporary Residence Limited) Marking the band’s 20th year, Enter the Mirror sees longtime members Coley Dennis, Matt Cherry, Chris McNeal and Mike Albanese engaging electronics more deeply for a cohesive work that traverses prog-rock, synth-pop and post-rock territories. The band’s seventh album prepares for blast off with the intro “2020,” a spacey, retrofuturistic soundscape that could’ve fit seamlessly within Vangelis’ 1982 electronic soundtrack to Blade Runner, especially given the film’s dystopian setting imagined to be only a few months shy of our present-day. The album’s second track, “A Warning In the Dark,” tips the hat to Kraftwerk (R.I.P. Floridian Schneider!) with vocoded vocals steadily marching over a metronomic, pulsating framework, and this krautrock-influenced rhythm continues to anchor the album amidst bursts of frenzied guitar. “Killing Time” and “Der Honig” deliver much harsher, unwavering melodies, while “Welcome To The Other Side” tiptoes out onto a disco dance floor before melting down into shimmering darkwave. Produced by the band and mixed by Grammy-winning producer John Congleton (St. Vincent, Explosions in the Sky, Angel Olsen), Enter the Mirror features contributions by Bill Berry (R.E.M.), Owen Lange and Alfredo Lapuz Jr. (DJ Immuzikation).
Like what you just read? Support Flagpole by making a donation today. Every dollar you give helps fund our ongoing mission to provide Athens with quality, independent journalism.
