Album Reviews

Gotye- Making Mirrors

Making Mirrors is the third studio album by Gotye, (pronounced “gore-ti-yeah”), Belgian-born Australian artist.  Gotye is his stage name, he was born, Walter "Wally" De Backer.

His style is pop, and his voice is different, he sometimes sounds like Phil Collins, and that comparison feels weird, but he does. Still noting this reference, the time frame is about right.  Gotye fits in with the 1980’-ish male pop star-era.

I could blab on about how his last solo album from 2006, Like Drawing Blood, had good intentions and ideas, but seemed to lack a necessary structure.  But lets move to the present.

Gotye’s voice is more refined now; it is strong, and genuine.  You can really feel the emotion strictly from his voice inflection.

In the newest release, Making Mirrors, he harnessed that energy and those ideas, and while the album jumps to several different genres throughout the album, it works.

The first single “Somebody That I used to Know” is fantastic.  It expresses the bitter end of a relationship.  The listener can really identify with him during the first two versus and the chorus, you start to think “that bitch!” until the last verse, sung by Kimbra starts and then you want to choose sides.  Luckily, you don’t have to.

Photo Couresty: Mandy Hall (Flickr)

Kimbra is a New Zealand singer/songwriter.  This track alone helped catapult these two to national recognition.   It hit number one on Australian and New Zealand charts.

“Eyes Wide Open” is another tale of lost love, and the second single of this release. In an interview on his website, Gotye explains how he got the baseline for this track from The Winton Musical Fence.

This fence is a musical instrument that has five metal strings attached to fence posts.  A few years ago, he brought along a recorder, found a piece of plastic piping near the fence and started banging around.  This fence was made by Graeme Leak.

Not every song is about his agonizing affairs.  While the two singles happen to fall into that category, he does other styles well.  “In Your Light” is upbeat and particularity day brightening.

"Easy Way Out," has a rock feel with trancy vocals. It is the shortest track on Making Mirrors, I would have liked it see how it evolved as a full-length track.

“I Feel Better” sounds a lot like Cee-Lo’s hit “F*** You” not in the since that it was stolen, but with that old-school soul feel.

He touches on a style that was unexpected with “State of the Art.” In this song he is singing into a mic that is almost the opposite of auto-tuned, it is a deep voice.  Like a toy you made prank calls with when you were a kid.

Some of the songs aren’t stand out tracks, they are easily forgotten.  But his experimental nature and artistic restlessness where he attempts all aspects of music are engaging enough to keep him on your radar. 

Photo Courtesy:Andrew Braithwaite (Flickr)

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