Kelly Moran - Don’t Trust Mirrors

A Closer Listen

Kelly Moran is an incredibly versatile performer whose music straddles the categories of ambient, electronic and modern composition.  On Don’t Trust Mirrors, she completes a circle, returning to prepared piano and synth after a gorgeous foray into solo piano on last year’s Moves in the Field.  But her trajectory is not quite that simple; a pianist at her core, she would often play concerts in the early evening and dance to techno until late in the night.  Last fall, Loraine James & Fyn Dobson teased out the club underpinnings of solo piano piece “Superhuman,” and this year, Bibio helps her to revisit “Don’t Trust Mirrors,” which first appeared on last year’s LP and is now the title piece of a new one.  It’s exciting to hear tracks transformed in this manner, and both re-imaginings are successful in their own right.  Playing the two versions of “Don’t Trust Mirrors” back-to-back, one is astonished at how different they are; the nature of the prepared piano is to surprise with unexpected timbres, and one would love to see what enhancements were used.  The new version is a minute shorter, and one could add a drum beat to make it a club cut, but we prefer it this way, as the intricacies shine through; it sounds like life inside a music box.

First single “Echo in the Field” is even catchier, the album’s most danceable piece; and indeed, the artist is dancing in the video, letting her exuberance shine.  The track sequencing is worth note, as the album will cycle through Moran’s strengths, beginning in the electronic realm before sliding smoothly into other arenas.  Over the course of the album, she will celebrate and integrate all of her musical personas.  This relates to the album’s title; the image one sees will fluctuate over time, and no single image will ever contain the whole.  The liner notes speak of “seeing yourself through distortion and reflection,” and we are glad that Moran has left none of her musical phases behind.

After the title track, the tone turns calm.  “Lunar Wave” has a harp-like timbre, while “Chrysalis” implies transformation, the emergence of a brand new self.  “Reappearing” is one of the set’s most ambient pieces, relaxed in its own skin, comfortable in soft chords and gentle notes; but it’s a joy to hear Moran at her most direct on the ensuing piece, which returns the artist to her instrument of choice, pure and unadorned.  “Cathedral” weaves these threads together like the colors of stained glass, leaving an impression of peace.  Many LPs build to a peak; Don’t Trust Mirrors grows ever more reflective on its way to a soft landing.  If the music reflects the heart of the composer, one might imagine that this artist has found the path to wholeness.  (Richard Allen)