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Artist
the Mirror Stage
6+ albums
about
The Mirror Stage crafts music that is greater than mere notes and lyrics. Its complex and intriguing songs epitomize the marriage of thought and instinct, of letting inspiration lead the way in a quest for perfection. It’s a lofty goal, certainly, yet one they’ve achieved on their debut EP Ten Thousand Tongues—five songs that are more inspired by writers such as Samuel Beckett and T.S. Eliot than musicians or songwriters. The writing of vocalist/guitarist/wordsmith James McAnally comes from a desire to communicate those moments that usually leave us speechless. “Some people respond sitting at a piano, hearing it resonate, or in front of a symphony, picking out the parts,” he says. “I get it when writing, because I am trying to take all of these disconnected sources and weave them in to a story that attempts to make sense of a world in which the atomic bomb and Lazarus are supposed to coexist. Our best and worst as a society are both present in each of the songs.” Yet The Mirror Stage isn’t solely lyrically focused; its thoughtfully constructed words are backed by intricate instrumentation that builds into well-composed crescendos. Each of its members is musically trained, from theory to opera to performance. James studied experimental music in college—including chant theory, which explains the chant and choral parts of Ten Thousand Tongues, as well as the unorthodox instrumentation from hammered dulcimer to unmetered percussion. Through ongoing musical study, Gregg Roberson
