Jen's Music Review

Jenness Mitchell • Published 8 Feb 2012 08:00 0 Comments

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Gotye: Making Mirrors (Deluxe Edition)

Belgium-born Aussie Wouter 'Wally' De Backer (Gotye) returns with his third studio album, Making Mirrors. The 31-year-old singer-songwriter has been releasing music for over a decade and has five ARIA Awards to his name, but is relatively unknown on our shores. Making Mirrors was released in Australia last year and now thanks to the success of Somebody That I Used To Know (featuring Kimbra), which has a video with an upwards of 64 million YouTube views, Gotye has a fantastic opportunity to not only break the UK Charts but also America's Billboard. Everyone loves a good heartbreak song, but Somebody That I Used To Know's success comes from the dual vocal story. At first Gotye tells a tale of falling in love, but despite coming to terms with growing apart he feels terrible at having been cut out of his ex's life. Before you start to feel sorry for him, Kimbra interjects and paints a different picture of what the relationship was like. The melody itself starts soft before building into a powerful declaration of hurt. All those that have ever had their heart crushed will relate - hence why it's caught the attention of millions. Gotye clearly loves his jazzy electric piano as much as Florence Welch adores her harp. The album itself is imaginative with a splash of reggae (State of the Art) and flavour of Motown (I Feel Better). In Your Light will have your hands clapping and feet stomping, Smoke and Mirrors delights with its easy electro loops, Eyes Wide Open mixes airy guitar alongside charging beats, and the apologetic Giving Me A Chance sweetly reminded me of a gentle Summer Hearts song. Last week I commented on the hype that surrounded Lana Del Rey following the viral hysteria of Video Games and how she had been built up and knocked down before even having a chance to release Born To Die. Gotye could have found himself in a similar situation, luckily he has this record good to go - and it certainly does not disappoint. Gotye is an exciting Australian export and I wouldn't be surprised to see him pop up on a few of the Scottish festival bills shortly.

Spotify Playlist Recommendation:

Ben Howard: The Wolves/Old Pine. Rachel Sermanni: Breathe Easy/Black Current. James Vincent McMorrow: We Don't Eat/If I Had A Boat. Peter & Kerry: Half Empty/Crash & Burn. Benjamin Francis Leftwich: Pictures/Atlas Hands. Warpaint: Undertow/Billie Holiday. Bat for Lashes: Sleep Alone/Daniel. Laura Marling: Ghosts/Sophia.

The above is a selection of tracks that are beautifully easy on the ears.

Extra Info:

If you have a Spotify playlist recommendation, email me on jmitchell@alloaadvertiser.co.uk or send music my way via open.spotify.com/user/jenster13.

Videos to check out:

Madonna, Give Me All Your Luvin' (feat. M.I.A. and Nicki Minaj): www.youtube.com/user/madonna

David Guetta, Turn Me On ft. Nicki Minaj: www.youtube.com/user/davidguettavevo

Birdy, 1901 (Live Version): www.youtube.com/user/OfficialBirdy

Coldplay, Charlie Brown (unstaged): www.youtube.com/user/ColdplayVEVO

OK Go, Needing/Getting: www.youtube.com/user/OkGo

Feist, The Bad In Each Other: www.youtube.com/user/FeistVEVO

Gig updates:

Ben Howard, Oran Mor, Glasgow (19 February)