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Following the chilled-out acoustic draughts blowing through both ‘Further’ and ‘Chorus’, to say nothing of the folkundertones in the 1996 EP release ‘Sally Free And Easy’, it seemed that the direction for future Flying Saucer Attack musics was clear: increased melodicism with more roots exposed in ever-cleaner productions. Apparently not - 1997’s ‘New Lands’ brought a return to the starkness and shadowplay of extreme noise and FSA’s Dave Pearce’s sonombulent vocalizing, along with the introduction of an unanticipated new development - a rubbery, almost dance-rhythmic bottom end that only increased the atmosphere of dread hanging above the fray. This set the stage for ‘Mirror’, which followed ‘New Lands’ over two years later, with only a cover version of Skip Spence’s ‘Goodbye World’ opus, ‘Grey/Afro’ coming between.

‘Mirror’ arrived wrapped in a vibrant, multicolored cover designed by Savage Pencil but the opening sequence of songs offered some of the quietest, most refined Flying Saucer Attack songs committed to tape. The violent spells of ‘New Lands’ had given way to a flattened drone on the electric pieces ‘Space (1999)’, ‘Islands’ and ‘Dark Wind’, while the glittering acoustics of ‘Suncatcher’ and ‘Tides’ highlighted an incredible fragility within the songs. Dave Pearce seemed to be further away in space than ever, a wispy presence over streamlined hard beats and loops of ‘Chemicals’, which create the direction of ‘Mirror’’s second side.

Particularly when considering the silence that followed, this impression makes ‘Mirror’ a distressing encounter at times, though certainly one of the most enervating listens of the FSA catalogue - quite an achievement, when the blinding airs of previous phases are recalled. 

TRACK LISTING

Space (1999)
Suncatcher
Islands
Tides
Chemicals
Dark Wind
Winter Song
Rivers
Dust
Rise
Star City