Photo by David Ellis
“MIRRORS formed probably in a very similar way to a lot of other bands; we were in a pub, we were being very scathing and cynical about the current crop of musical hopefuls and obviously assumed at the same time we could do it better. So before we knew it, we picked up a couple of old synthesizers and we were bashing out some tunes…”: James New
MIRRORS may have only released one full length album ‘Light & Offerings’ in early 2011 but while the lack of success may have precipitated their premature disbandment, with the qualitative lull in British synth music in the years following meant that ‘Light & Offerings’ was discovered retrospectively by electronic pop fans who had missed the band first time around.
MIRRORS released their first two self-produced singles ‘Look At Me’ and ‘Into The Heart’ in 2009. As the quartet began to perform live with cerebral projections as visual accompaniment, they fostered a suited look based around 20th Century European Modernism inspired by Gilbert & George and designated their music pop noir. Signing to Brighton’s Skint Records, after abortive recording sessions with Ed Buller and Richard X, the band opted to self-produce their debut long player and locked themselves away in a rural Sussex farmhouse for several weeks.
Despite having only one long player to their name, MIRRORS became known for their B-sides and remixes while since the band’s fragmentation in late 2011 and quiet disbandment in mid-2013 after their final gig in the Czech Republic, there have been number of new projects and collaborations. Of the classic line-up, front man James New has been the most prolific, working with Saint Raymond, Lauren Aquilina and Laura Welsh in a production / writing partnership with Josef Page alongside his own solo work and various guest appearences. Meanwhile outside of music, James Arguile entered the teaching profession while Ally Young trained to become a chef.
ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK has managed to assemble a Beginner’s Guide comprising of 20 tracks from The World of MIRRORS. As per usual, rules help to control the fun and the selections have been made from standalone releases whether physical product or digital downloads (both purchasable or available initially for free); they are placed in chronological order…
MUMM-RA She’s Got You High (2007)
James New and James Arguile had their first taste of near-fame in indie-pop hopefuls MUMM-RA named after the primary villain in the animated series ‘ThunderCats’. Reaching No41 in the UK Singles Chart, ‘She’s Got You High’ later appeared in ‘(500) Days of Summer’, an episode of ‘The Inbetweeners’ and a Waitrose advert. Despite supporting THE KILLERS, the band split and New started listening to KRAFTWERK…
Available on the MUMM-RA album ‘These Things Move In Threes’ via Columbia Records
https://www.instagram.com/mummraofficial/
MIRRORS Look At Me (2009)
“Bored of tradition”, James New met Ally Young and began formulating ideas “to do something that was considered from the ground up”. Joined by James Arguile who embraced the idea of making soulful electronic pop, the first fruit of labour was ‘Look At Me’; recorded on GarageBand with sonic distortion creeping in, it was released as a one sided red vinyl single on Pure Groove with the sleeve sticker outlining the MIRRORS manifesto.
Available on the MIRRORS EP ‘Broken By Silence’ via Skint Records
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2009/mar/13/new-band-mirrors
WHITE LIES A Place To Hide – Un Autre Monde mix by MIRRORS (2009)
The WHITE LIES connection came about as James New was friends with live keyboardist Tommy Bowen; a song from the debut ‘To Lose My Life…’ which also included ‘Farewell To The Fairground’, the trio’s post-punk influenced synth rock influenced by THE TEARDROP EXPLODES was given a doom-laden machine-percussive edge. “The WHITE LIES one was our first remix actually” recalled James New in 2010, “that’s probably the one I like the least”.
Originally available a free download, currently unavailable
MIRRORS Into The Heart (2009)
With Josef Page joining to the line-up, MIRRORS were now a synth quartet and their second single on Moshi Moshi was a much more soaring statement after the comparatively understated ‘Look At Me’. Within its detuned shimmering tones, here was an accessible Cold War centric pop number with a majestic singalong that proved Synth Britannia influences were nothing to be ashamed of.
Originally available as the single ‘Into The Heart’ via Moshi Moshi Records, re-recorded version on the album ‘Lights & Offerings’ via Skint Entertainment
https://www.facebook.com/theworldofmirrors
AU REVOIR SIMONE Tell Me – MIRRORS remix (2010)
Known for their whimsical feminine synthpop, AU REVOIR SIMONE closed their third album ‘Still Night, Still Light’ with the minimally understated ‘Tell Me’; remixed in his bedroom in half a day, James New’s brilliant version made the American female keyboard trio of Erika Forster, Annie Hart and Heather D’Angelo sound delectably suicidal; “That was the plan…”, he said in 2010, “sort of gothic disco I was going for there!”
Available on the AU REVOIR SIMONE album ‘Night Light’ via Moshi Moshi Records
http://www.aurevoirsimone.com/
MIRRORS Ways To An End (2010)
‘Ways To An End’ saw MIRRORS’ intense and artful approach to dancing was very different to the ‘hands in the air’ culture of their home base of Brighton. Synthetic chills and pulsing effects dominated this brilliantly uptempo electro number that rhythmically recalled TALKING HEADS ‘Crosseyed & Painless’ while the claustrophobic production was very post-punk while wonderfully dense and swathed in melodic drama.
Available on the MIRRORS album ‘Lights & Offerings’ via Skint Records
https://theworldofmirrors.blogspot.com/2010/12/mirrors-and-omd-tour-account.html
MIRRORS Broken By Silence (2010)
In their short career, MIRRORS left not only a great album in ‘Lights & Offerings’ but a body of wonderful B-sides too. Originally the flipside of ‘Ways To An End’, the emotive ‘Broken By Silence’ exploited the sad melancholy often associated with OMD; “It’s one of my favourite tracks of ours!” said James New and it became the title song of a special CD EP made available during MIRRORS shows opening for OMD.
Available on the MIRRORS EP ‘Broken By Silence’ via Skint Records
https://theworldofmirrors.blogspot.com/2010/12/mirrors-tour-account-part-2.html
OMD Sister Marie Says – MIRRORS Un Autre Monde Mix (2010)
With the European tour opening for OMD came an invitation to remix ‘Sister Marie Says’, the most immediate song on their comeback album ‘History Of Modern’. Much was anticipated in as the apprentice casttheir homework on the sorcerer’s spell. Using a dark abstractly percussive approach minus the song apart from bursts of choir samples and the whispered title phrase, this reconstruction polarised OMD and MIRRORS fans alike.
Originally available on the single ‘Sister Marie Says’ via Blue Noise Records, currently unavailable
MIRRORS Falls By Another Name (2011)
“It’s a bit of a guilty pleasure…” said Ally Young of ‘Falls By Another Name’, a B-side catchy enough to have been an A-side. Not as dense as MIRRORS’ usual pop noir, the bright pulsing melodies and James New’s Dave Gahan impression made this sound like a quality outtake from DEPECHE MODE’s ‘Speak & Spell’; “…we do have a habit of writing quite big melodies and choruses” added the MIRRORS singer, “we come from a poppy sort of place”.
Available on the MIRRORS EP ‘Broken By Silence’ via Skint Records
https://theworldofmirrors.blogspot.com/2011/05/
MIRRORS Something On Your Mind (2011)
MIRRORS revealed an interesting musical diversion with this haunting take of a rootsy country number originally recorded by Karen Dalton. Written by Dino Valenti of psychedelic rockers QUICKSILVER MESSENGER SERVICE, ‘Something On Your Mind’ was a touching ballad with its tortured yearning suiting the quartet’s pop noir aspirations. Ally Young said: “It was very nice for us to be able to apply our aesthetic to someone else’s song.”
Available on the MIRRORS album ‘Lights & Offerings’ via Skint Records
https://theworldofmirrors.blogspot.com/2011/04/embedded-mirrors-european-tour-diary.html
MIRRORS Secrets – Andy McCluskey remix (2011)
Originally a 10 minute epic split into three movements, ‘Secrets’ closed MIRRORS’ debut long player, driven by an intense percussive tattoo and a shifting octave bass riff that was pure Klingklang. While pushing forward the synthetic claps and allowing in some air, Andy McCluskey stripped down the backing and shortened proceedings, making it much less claustrophobic and militaristic than the original cut.
Originally available a free download, currently unavailable
https://www.runoutgrooves.com/mirrors/
ANOTHERS BLOOD Lost Communication – MIRRORS remix (2011)
Behind the cerebral alt-rock act ANOTHERS BLOOD was producer Richard Frenneaux. His rousing ‘Lost Communication’ was given an electro-gothic austere by MIRRORS that subdued the vocal into a background of slowly throbbing bass synths. ANOTHERS BLOOD later covered NEW ORDER’s ‘Lonesome Tonight’ for Mojo Magazine in 2012 while Frenneaux released his debut solo album ‘Fluoxetine Times’ in 2020.
Available on the ANOTHERS BLOOD single ‘Lost Communication’ via Family Records
https://www.instagram.com/richfrenn/
LADY GAGA Judas – MIRRORS Une Autre Monde Mix: Nuit (2011)
In their biggest remix commission yet, MIRRORS contributed two remixes, subtitled ‘Jour’ et ‘Nuit’; the best of these was the latter night version which added the discordant backing on the verse that let Lady Gaga get away with her bizarre intonation saying “arse”. With the very poppy chorus removed, his provided a darker resonance to the implied blasphemy while a pulsing middle eight added to the edgier synthpop adaptation.
Available on the LADY GAGA download bundle ‘Judas (Remix EP Part 1)’ via Interscope Records
MIRRORS Blood Diamonds (2012)
Following the departure of founder member Ally Young and a parting of ways with Skint Records, MIRRORS came back with an independently distributed EP of new material. Also including previously unreleased home demos, it was snappily titled ‘This Year, Next Year, Sometime?’; the first of the demos ‘Blood Diamond’ was a marvellous percussive surprise with a tribal TALKING HEADS attack and James New’s spirited chanting!
Available on the MIRRORS EP ‘This Year, Next Year, Sometime…?’ via Bandcamp
https://mirrorsofficial.bandcamp.com/album/this-year-next-year-sometime
MIRRORS Between Four Walls (2012)
On slimming down to a trio, MIRRORS headed towards a sparser textural direction with ‘Dust’ and ‘Hourglass’ than on ‘Lights & Offerings’, but this was nevertheless rewarding with further listens. The beautifully stark drama of ‘Between Four Walls’ was full of post 3:00am drama. Asking “Do you ever wonder how you’ll ever get there when you never turn back around?”, it was high end atmospheric electronic balladry at its best.
Available on the MIRRORS single ‘Hourglass’ via Bandcamp
https://mirrorsofficial.bandcamp.com/album/hourglass
LOVELIFE Brave Face (2012)
After Ally Young left MIRRORS, his first musical port-of-call to produce the second album by OASIS-inspired indie band VIVA BROTHER. But when things floundered and the band split, he teamed up with their singer Lee Newell, relocated to New York and LOVELIFE was born. ‘Brave Face’ was a chilling but uplifting piece of mood music which came over like OMD fronted by HARD FI in its Cool Britannia meets Synth Britannia fusion.
Available on the LOVELIFE EP ‘El Regreso’ via Lovelife
https://www.facebook.com/LVLFinfo/
FOTONOVELA featuring JAMES NEW Our Sorrow (2013)
Not content with producing MARSHEAUX and collaborating with OMD on the ‘English Electric’ track ‘Helen Of Troy’, Greek production duo FOTONOVELA unveiled a new sophomore opus which was more song based using a number of prominent international vocalists. One of the numbers ‘Our Sorrow’ featured the majestic voice of James New. This sad string synth laden ditty was in the vein of classic OMD.
Available on the FOTONOVELA album ‘A Ton Of Love’ via Undo Records
http://www.facebook.com/undofotonovela
MARSHEAUX featuring JAMES NEW Now This Is Fun (2015)
MARSHEAUX included some interesting arrangements covering DEPECHE MODE’s second album ‘A Broken Frame’. But the 2CD deluxe edition boasted a bonus track in a cover of the ‘See You’ B-side ‘Now This Is Fun’ featuring James New on lead vocals. Whereas the original version went through a series of frantic tempo changes, MARSHEAUX kept the pace constant and moody while the MIRRORS front man remained anxiously impassioned.
Available on the MARSHEAUX deluxe album ‘A Broken Frame’ via Undo Records
https://www.facebook.com/marsheaux
PURPLE HAZE featuring JAMES NEW Fall In (2017)
James New returned to his indie guitar roots to reform MUMM-RA while also working with others. The project of Sander Van Doorn, this PURPLE HAZE collaboration saw New add his forlorn vocals to the dreamy acoustic electronic hybrid of ‘Fall In’ which exhibited all the potential qualities of MIRRORS; there were bangin’ dance remixes by LYNDSCAPE and Zonderling but New issued his own solo guitar-oriented take in 2018.
Available on the PURPLE HAZE album ‘SPECTRVM’ via Doorn Records
https://www.instagram.com/jamesnewmusic/
VIRENS We’re Still Cool (2024)
Despite James New teasing that he might return to synth with acoustic covers of ‘Don’t You Want Me’ and ‘A Real Hero’, his new project VIRENS was actually an alt-folk duo. His partner Louisa Connolly-Burnham had a voice akin to Hope Sandoval of MAZZY STAR, so it was fitting that ‘We’re Still Cool’ was like THE JESUS & MARY CHAIN meeting Bowie’s ‘Heroes’; it also saw New reunite with Josef Page who co-wrote and produced the track.
Available on the VIRENS EP ‘Mutual Assured Destruction’ via Couples Therapy
https://www.instagram.com/virensmusic/
The MIRRORS Appreciation Society Facebook Group is at https://www.facebook.com/groups/404571368236796
Text by Chi Ming Lai with thanks to Norman Cooke
11th October 2025
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