Track Of The Day Painted Mirror
Baltimore, Maryland based band could easily fit in both post-punk and shoegaze playlists, with a slight predominance of the former, blending dark, gloomy and brooding soundscapes and reverb-infused searing distortions, always elegant, subtle, emotionally and melodically rich.
Following their debut Self-Titled EP in 2017, Painted Mirror, recently expanded to a 5-piece, comprised of vocalist/keyboardist Sam Morgan (also under solo alias Vacant Windows), bassist Brian Fee, drummer John Theuerkauf, and guitarist Jake Smith and new arrival keyboardist Michelle Shaw, have just released their long-awaited sophomore 5-tracker “Slow Tide”.
Though they’ve never hidden their influences, a much greater debt to ’80s British post-punk is clear, the group re-elaborate it in a fresh, personal and convincing way.
Although the EP is smooth and captivating throughout its duration, I pick “Sorry (Not Sorry)”, just for the unusually large use of the keyboards that could open future new sonic suggestions, a poignant song that delves profoundly into the thoughts of a man who feels phony when he realizes his relationship is over and he is just going through motions.
Heartfelt feelings of sorrow and regret are fostered by swathes of spacious and glassy synth drift over tight drums, rumbling deep bass lines and sparkling guitar melodies, while Sam Morgan‘s somber vocals furrow imperiously crooning and mourning, together with flickering sparkling wistful guitar slivers and harmonious aching synth drones that lacerate the icy bleak surface, drowned in misunderstood sorrow and emptiness shadowed by a vast lonely existence of nostalgia.
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Photo by Rock N Roll Socialite
