Broken Mirror: A Selfie Reflection is a timely callout to the power of collaboration, of kindred spirits connecting in crowded rooms. More important, though, is this collision of two profoundly Southern artists, meeting to shed expectations of generation and genre, scene and situation and exchange truth, wisdom, and energy. The real world is more complicated than a pretty digital picture, bowdlerized of blemishes. As Broken Mirror: A Selfie Reflection reminds us, it can be more revelatory and transformative, too.
These racks are balls of energized contemplation, Holley crooning grievances and observations above surrealist grooves so irrepressible and heavy that the words strike with the force of gospel. Holley strolls into “I Cried Space Dust” as if he’s wandered into the On the Corner sessions and offered unsolicited insights on true transcendence. “I’m Not Tripping” is an anthem of self-worth and self-enjoyment for a society mired in self-doubt, the words breaking like light beams through clouds of atomized drums and synths. And Holley begins the title track as a character mindlessly staring into a cell phone, captivated by his own image like Narcissus at water’s edge. Holley ponders the egotism of projection over dizzying keyboards and guitars so jagged they conjure fractured glass. By song’s end, he’s mocking this infrastructure of pandering for likes, jeering us all above a savage bassline that dares you to differ.
Holley and White may seem like unlikely collaborators, divided as they are by decades and disciplines. Holley, 70, first earned attention as a sculptor far removed from the fiefdom of fine art, using society’s detritus to create curious bricolages that ferried deep narratives of ancestral pride, enduring pain, and eternal hope. His music—privately stowed on stacks of cassettes before he released his staggering 2012 debut, Just Before Music, at the age of 62—aired those ideas over extemporaneous pieces for prismatic keyboards. But on Big Inner and Fresh Blood, White, now 38, came into acclaim as one of his generation’s most meticulous songwriters and arrangers. Stretching his assuredly soulful voice like a smile across little symphonies of strings, horns, choirs, and percussive cavalcades, White commanded sounds where Holley seemed to glide inside them.
credits
released April 9, 2021
Lonnie Holley - vocals
Devonne Harris - synth, piano, additional keyboards
Daniel Clarke - synth, piano, additional keyboards
Alan Parker - guitars, Arp sequencer
Cameron Ralston - bass, percussion
Giustino Riccio - congas, percussion, DSI Tempest
Brian Jones - percussion. Mica Sonic
Pinson Chanselle - drums, percussion
Written by Lonnie Holley and Matthew E. White
Published by Domino Publishing Co. Ltd and Secretly Publishing
Produced by Matthew E. White and Adrian Olsen
Engineered by Adrian Olsen and Chris Boerner
Post Production Editing and Dubbing by Matthew E. White and Adrian Olsen
Mixed by Adrian Olsen
Recorded at Montrose Recording in Richmond, VA
Vocals recorded at Soundpure Studio
Mastered by Mike Bozzi
Artwork by Lonnie Holley
Typography by Travis Robertson
supported by 65 fans who also own “Broken Mirror: A Selfie Reflection”
My god, what an absolutely incredible Suite. I'll admit, I've struggled to get into Pharoah Sanders due to diving headfirst into some of his most challenging catalogue and that never worked. This is the perfect place to restart. Floating Points is new for me and I can honestly say I've never heard synthesizer music this lush and organic before. the LSO is just perfect. This is one of those albums that any serious music fan needs in their life. The perfect swan song for the great Pharaoh! 5/5 ClassyMusicSnob
supported by 61 fans who also own “Broken Mirror: A Selfie Reflection”
Like so many others, this came like a bolt out of the blue and, even though it's well before payday, I had to have this astonishing album on vinyl to prove it exists. The feel of the tunes makes me feel like the Impressions do, Curtis Mayfield, the big spaces and instinctive horns and stuff drifting in and out. Great grooves and I can see lots of ghosts nodding along to this with big smiles on their faces. At last! Anthony Cottrell
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Pivoting from German to English, disco to soft rock, the groovy Swiss duo branch out on their first album in six years. Bandcamp New & Notable Mar 28, 2024
supported by 51 fans who also own “Broken Mirror: A Selfie Reflection”
Energy time maddafakkas! This is hard hitting free jazz for the revolution. Listening to this you could believe it might actually happen!
Anyone who thinks Jazz is for old folks should give this a spin. It couldn’t be more contemporary to my ears. Crinklechips