Undying Color

by Mind Over Mirrors

Overview

As Mind Over Mirrors, Jaime Fennelly (formerly of Peeesseye) uses analog synthesizers and an Indian pedal harmonium, creating swirling, pulsating drones equally informed by traditional ragas and cosmic electronic music. With 2017's Undying Color, he adds a generous helping of Americana to his list of influences. The album arrives on Paradise of Bachelors, a North Carolina-based label known for releasing music by progressive folk and country artists like Michael Chapman, Steve Gunn, and Hiss Golden Messenger, as well as Fennelly's former bandmate Chris Forsyth. Here, Fennelly is joined by a small group of musicians including Freakwater's Janet Beveridge Bean and Califone's Jim Becker, as well as experimental percussionist Jon Mueller (Collections of Colonies of Bees, Pele, Volcano Choir). The album opens with "Restore & Slip," a rollicking number with boisterous fiddle and galloping drums joining Fennelly's electronics. To anyone familiar with Mind Over Mirrors' previous albums, it sounds jarring at first, but it makes perfect sense, as the project has always seemed earthy, organic, and in tune with nature. This just makes it sound more rustic, but it already sounded human to begin with. The 12-minute epic "Gravity Wake" follows, beginning with marching drums and softly eddying synths, eventually joined by the deep, intoxicating voice of Circuit des Yeux's Haley Fohr, who sang on the previous Mind Over Mirrors album, The Voice Calling. Fohr and Bean both duet on the gorgeous, heartbreaking "Splintering." The calmly shifting synths are joined by singing bowls, and even though it sounds detached and hazy at first, there's still something immediately striking about it, and it just escalates when the two vocalists join in. Supremely haunting and beautiful. "To the Edges" has a bit of a sharper edge to its pulsating synths, and it's one of the most hypnotic pieces on the album thanks to the slowly beating bass drum and Fohr's ghostly operatic vocals. "600 Miles Around" also has rough vibrations, but they're joined by Bean's pretty echo-covered vocals, and the song becomes one of the album's most hopeful moments. Undying Color seems like a strange experiment at first, but it ends up being one of the most enjoyable releases in the Mind Over Mirrors catalog. ~ Paul Simpson

Product Details

Release Date:	02/17/2017
Label:	PARADISE BACHELORS
UPC:	0616892415541

Tracks

1. Restore & Slip
2. Gravity Wake
3. Glossolaliac
4. Gray Clearer
5. Splintering
6. To the Edges
7. 600 Miles Around

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Mind Over Mirrors   Primary Artist
Haley Fohr   Vocals
Jon Mueller   Drums,Percussion
Jim Becker   Fiddle,Indian Flute
Janet Bean   Vocals
Nick Broste   Trombone
Justin Amolsch   Horn
Mike Weis   Singing Bowls
Jaime Fennelly   Harmonium,Electronics,Synthesizer

Technical Credits

Haley Fohr   Group Member
Jim Becker   Group Member
Jaime Fennelly   Group Member,Composer
Jon Mueller   Group Member
Janet Bean   Group Member
Nick Broste   Group Member
Josh Bonati   Mastering
Justin Amolsch   Group Member
Mike Weis   Group Member