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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
contributes a variety of sounds to the band, including piano, guitar, bass and
synth. And with her background in opera, keyboardist/vocalist Brea McAnally
lends a gorgeously artistic touch. As she explains, "Opera training showed me
there aren't any limits to the sounds one can make with the human voice."
James traces the enigmatic narratives of Ten Thousand
Tongues back to an elegy given by his Methodist-preacher father. He recalled an
Irish proverb which speaks of "thin places"—spots on earth in which angels
come to watch us and where we can hear them move. "The thin places are people
or places," says James, "certain songs or chord progressions, those unnamable
things that change us that we've never known how to talk about."
A fitting rise to the music of The Mirror Stage; you listen,
you try to find the words to express your feelings but, ultimately, you just
give into them. Good art doesn't have to be explained to be appreciated. If it
moves you, if it inspires you, if it challenges you, somewhere along the line
you realize it has changed you ever so slightly and, whether quiet or loud, it
is still humming below the surface.
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The Mirror Stage 
