Music
Press
"as though the warm, sun-dappled tones of the west coast sound had been put through a dark prism: swathed in dark and gloomy chords, Mirror Lake’s guitar and synth heavy sound was swampy, and lush... In all honesty, I can’t wait for these dudes to record a full LP" - Scene in the Dark
"...seamless atmospheric rock and roll. The drums manifested a very mechanical skeleton, draped with the flesh of thick overdriven bass and spacey, Telecaster riffage, a true trademark of the genre. The soft wailing of the vocals only added a movement to the figure that grasped and pulled you into its world."
- Beatroute Magazine
"The clouds descend the very second you hit Play, as the all-instrumental title track sets plunks of piano against a sparse backdrop of clattering drum fills and reverb-laden drones. “Echo Lake Mirror Lake” is no less chilly, as dissonant guitar licks and whirling organs lock into a folk-noir waltz, while singer Bryce Janssens tests the upper limits of his register with a spectral melody. These tracks are impeccably produced, with rich organic tones that feel inviting despite the bleakness of the material."
- Georgia Straight
Discography
September 2012 - The Last Of The Summer Wine - The Storyboard Label
6 song 12" EP
Sepember 2010 - On Fire / Swept In To A Corner
2 song EP
May 2010 - Cold Mass / Conscript
2 song EP
October 2009 - Drunk The Moon
6 song EP
Photos
Bio
Mirror Lake began slowly as the solitary pursuit of Bryce Janssens while holing up in a friend’s garage during the fall of 2010 in Vancouver, Canada. He set to writing and recording new material over the following months, occasionally calling upon the odd collaborator to help fill in the gaps. From all the material he put together he decided on six songs he would use to establish a new project called Mirror Lake. Janssens quickly established a band that could bring his material to an audience and began playing shows in the summer of 2012.
Mirror Lake’s debut EP, The Last of the Summer Wine, is a beautiful and dynamic selection of songs burying deep undertones of psychedelia and dark, folk-tinged rock and roll. The album is unmistakably contemporary, however, with no desire to invoke nostalgia or need to reference the past. The opening and title track follows a listless path of discordant piano, stumbling snare hits, and melodic tonal shifts that pull the listener reluctantly forward. It sets the way for the following five songs by calmly easing into the light hammering of chords that introduce the second track, Echo Lake Mirror Lake. After a brief introduction we hear Bryce Janssens voice for the first time, a melodic and uplifting centerpiece that grounds the heavy atmosphere created by the guitars and organs. From there the album pushes forward without any sense of repetition or any regurgitation of old ideas. Each song carries its own weight, offering new approaches to the song writing while flowing seamlessly from start to finish.
Listen for the influences of
Scott Walker
The Fall
PJ Harvey
Vincent Gallo
The Beach Boys
The Kinks
Blur
Townes Van Zandt
Bob Dylan
Robert Johnson
Joni Mitchell
Swans
Nick Cave
Radiohead/Yorke/Greenwood
Blonde Redhead
Links
