On Kelly Moran's 'Mirrors,' All Is Not What It Seems

"A disciple of John Cage, Moran uses prepared-piano techniques - inserting objects on and between the strings, sometimes playing the strings with her fingers or an EBow - along with electronic-music treatments (she's collaborated with Daniel Lopatin and performed in Oneohtrix Point Never's band on the Age Of tour, and it shows). Time and again on Don't Trust Mirrors, Moran tricks the listener into thinking the main instrument here is harp, which, if you're a fan of Mary Lattimore or Brandee Younger, is a plus. This legerdemain reflects the title's admonition that all is not what it seems."

"On opener "Echo in the Field," bubbly synth percolates over harp-like accents and bass-y undercurrents, as a melody of cautious optimism, perhaps conceived as COVID lockdown was ending, emerges. With "Prism Drift," Moran plucks a piano to fashion cyclical, icy tones, finessing them into a delicately beautiful melody. A savvy musical director should use it in a film to score the protagonist making a life-changing decision."

""Systems" is a kinetic cut with engrossing counterpoint, like a Nala Sinephro jawn, but with a more robust attack on the keyboards. Mirrors closes with its most enigmatic and ambitious track, "Cathedral," evoking the stained-glass gravity of a Goblin giallo soundtrack. This is a deceptively pretty album in which all of the experiments succeed."

Don't Trust Mirrors represents six years of work and functions as a definitive career statement for Kelly Moran. The record returns to hypnotic, sometimes dissonant compositions built from prepared-piano techniques, EBow usage, and electronic treatments informed by collaborations with Daniel Lopatin and Oneohtrix Point Never. The music frequently masquerades as harp through texture and timbre, aligning with influences like Mary Lattimore and Brandee Younger. The album contrasts with the conventionally pretty Moves in the Field and recalls earlier, darker albums such as Bloodroot and Ultraviolet. Tracks range from bubbly, optimistic synth pieces to kinetic counterpoint and an enigmatic, giallo-evoking finale, and the experiments largely succeed.

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