The Irrepressibles - Mirror Mirror
To catch The Irrepressibles live is like stumbling into a Tim Burton film. Crooked poses and strategic lighting cast ghoulish shadows across the crowd , while androgynous people sprouting large plumes of feathers and towering hats majestically tease and tickle their instruments into life, like mysterious animals that need careful nurturing to perform what their masters desire.
Of course, this kind of theatricality is never easy to capture on record, of which Mirror Mirror is The Irrepressibles first. The 10-piece ‘performance orchestra’ is led by composer and artist Jamie McDermott whose voice is the first musical weapon of choice when opener ‘My Friend Jo’ tip-toes into the ears. It would be impossible to review this album without reference to Antony Hegarty (of ‘& The Johnsons’ fame) as McDermott’s voice is startlingly similar and the lyrics contain the same cockiness and underlying insecurity. This vulnerability is most apparent in ‘In Your Eyes’ which asks its subject to “hold me now, tell me that its safe”. Like Hegarty, McDermott’s voice can flit between confident and bulshy, to quaking and defenceless, this makes the album a wonderful rollercoaster ride of emotions.
The Irrepressibles can produce the same punch musically too, flitting from twisted waltz pomposity on ‘I’ll Maybe Let You’, to wounded creature on the incredible climax of ‘In This Shirt’. Overall though Mirror Mirror takes what A&tJ’s had in sprinklings on Mercury nominated album I Am A Bird Now, and rather than drag it further into the shadows (like Hegarty did for follow up The Crying Light) they have sprinkled it with a healthy dose of vaudeville and ballroom glamour.
Mirror Mirror is a marvellous album that breathes life into the listener from start to finish and comes packed full with irresistible swinging melodies that leave you hankering to see the mysterious world that it has come from.