''Making Mirrors'' is the third studio album by Belgian-Australian singer-songwriter
Gotye
Wouter André "Wally" De Backer (born 21 May 1980), better known by his stage name Gotye ( ), is a Belgian-Australian multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter. The name "Gotye" is a pronunciation respelling of "Gauthier", the French cognat ...
, released in Australia on 19 August 2011. In December 2011 it was announced that ''Making Mirrors'' was voted
Triple J
Triple J (stylised in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian Radio in Australia, radio station intended to appeal to listeners of alternative music, which began broadcasting in January 1975. The station also places a greate ...
listeners' number-one album of 2011, making Gotye the first artist to win the Triple J album poll twice. It included the single "
Somebody That I Used to Know
"Somebody That I Used to Know" is a song written, produced, and performed by Belgian-Australian singer-songwriter Gotye featuring vocals from New Zealand singer Kimbra. The song was released in Australia and New Zealand by Eleven Music on 5 ...
", which reached and topped charts worldwide. In Poland, only one day after release, the album was certified platinum. The album won the
2013 Grammy for
Best Alternative Music Album
The Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album is an award presented to recording artists for quality albums in the alternative genre at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. Ho ...
.
The album was largely recorded at a converted studio at Gotye's parents' farm in the
Mornington Peninsula
The Mornington Peninsula is a peninsula located south of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is surrounded by Port Phillip to the west, Western Port to the east and Bass Strait to the south, and is connected to the mainland in the north. Geogra ...
.
At the
J Awards of 2011
The J Award of 2011 is the seventh annual J Awards, established by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's youth-focused radio station Triple J. The announcement comes at the culmination of Ausmusic Month (November). For the fourth year, three a ...
, the album won the Australian Album of the Year.
History
In mid-October 2010, Gotye released a single titled "
Eyes Wide Open", the first track from the album. The single received generally positive reviews and reached #25 in the
Triple J
Triple J (stylised in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian Radio in Australia, radio station intended to appeal to listeners of alternative music, which began broadcasting in January 1975. The station also places a greate ...
Hottest 100
The Triple J Hottest 100 is an annual music listener poll hosted by the publicly-funded, national Australian youth radio station, Triple J. Members of the public are invited to vote for their favourite Australian and alternative music of the y ...
of
2010
File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...
.
In late March 2010, Gotye revealed the album's title, which was inspired by an artwork De Backer chanced upon which was edited to create the album cover art. He claimed, "The mirror reflects on artwork and it is all very related to self-reflection and introspection on the album."
Gotye also revealed that the album would see a release in June or July 2011, with a single to precede the release,
along with the fact that the album would be similar to its predecessor in terms of diversity.
Gotye went on to reveal that the release of the album was delayed for over five months due to the composition and recording of a single track.
On 19 May 2011, it was announced that this album would be released on 19 August 2011, with the album to be launched the following day at the
Sydney Opera House
The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in Sydney. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive buildings and a masterpiece of 20th-century architec ...
as part of the Graphic Festival, with animators and a ten-piece orchestra as part of Gotye's performance.
Gotye was also to issue a follow-up single to "Eyes Wide Open" titled "Somebody That I Used to Know", on 11 July 2011.
Upon the announcement of the track listing, Gotye also revealed that there would be a DVD accompanying the record which would include music videos and documentaries.
However, controversy erupted on 5 July 2011, when the video for the new single, "Somebody That I Used to Know", was leaked online via the ''
Take 40 Australia
''Take 40 Australia'' was Australia's first and longest-running music countdown. It counted down the official top 40 singles on the ARIA chart on a weekly basis. It was broadcast nationally each week to over 1.2 million listeners. Starting in ...
'' website. Later that day, the song was aired for the first time on
Triple J
Triple J (stylised in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian Radio in Australia, radio station intended to appeal to listeners of alternative music, which began broadcasting in January 1975. The station also places a greate ...
with the official stamp of approval from Gotye. Gotye released the single six days early, on 5 July 2011, through
iTunes
iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...
Australia, and his website for international followers.
The song has also reached #1 in the ARIA Singles Chart, and the ARIA Digital Singles Chart and #1 in the ARIA Australian Artists Chart. The song went on to be an international success charting in the top 20 in over 10 countries with 6 of them being at number one; the song also charted in the US and Canada. As of Friday 4 November, the single has received five times platinum sales and the #1 position on the Australian
iTunes Store
The iTunes Store is a digital media store operated by Apple Inc. It opened on April 28, 2003, as a result of Steve Jobs' push to open a digital marketplace for music. As of April 2020, iTunes offered 60 million songs, 2.2 million apps, 25,00 ...
, making it one of the highest-selling singles of 2011. The single has officially been certified nine times platinum, selling over 630,000 copies, making it the most successful Australian song on the ARIA charts of all time. The album was certified two times platinum by the ARIA Albums Chart, making it the most successful Australian album of 2011. Since then, the album has been certified three times platinum, selling in excess of 210,000 copies in Australia. "Bronte" was released as the third single on 8 August 2011. "
I Feel Better" was released as the fourth single from the album in Australia on 24 October 2011.
The song, however, failed to reach the top 100. "Easy Way Out" was released in the UK as a promotional single on 3 November 2011. It was eventually released as the fifth single from Making Mirrors in Australia on 27 February 2012.
In 2013, the companion
video album
A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...
''
Video Mirrors'' was released, including 12 music videos and one featurette, with a runtime of 59 minutes.
Concept and themes
Shortly before its release, Gotye spoke to the
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...
about the significance of the artwork, the title, and how it symbolises the creative and introspective process of recording the album; "It's more about reflection
..little ways for me to explore my record collection, explore the world of sound that I'm fascinated by, and also sometimes get a different perspective on memories and emotions I've been mulling over".
Gotye revealed that the second single from the album, "Somebody That I Used to Know", was not lyrically the result of a single break-up. "It wasn't about one specific relationship," explained De Backer in an interview, "but it was definitely drawn from various experiences I've had in relationships breaking up."
Despite the album's huge success, Gotye revealed in an interview with ''
Rolling Stone Australia
''Rolling Stone'' Australia is the Australian edition of the United States' ''Rolling Stone'' magazine devoted to music, politics, and popular culture, published monthly. The Australian version of ''Rolling Stone'' was initially published in 197 ...
'' that he initially battled with indecision and depression while making the album, which in turn became the subject matter of songs like "Smoke and Mirrors" (with a central theme of
impostor syndrome
Impostor syndrome, also known as impostor phenomenon or impostorism, is a psychological occurrence in which an individual doubts their skills, talents, or accomplishments and has a persistent internalized fear of being exposed as a fraud. Despi ...
) and "Save Me". He stated: "There were points that I thought I wouldn't be able to finish a record I was really into or that I'd give up at some stage."
According to an interview in ''The Age'', the track "State of the Art" is about a secondhand 1970s organ Gotye's parents purchased. The accompanying music video is an animation showing a family purchasing and playing the instrument, which captivates and transforms the family into metal people resembling organ pipes.
Critical reception
''Making Mirrors'' received generally positive reviews from music critics. At
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, which assigns a
normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an
average
In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7, ...
score of 69, based on 19 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".
Caitlin Welsh of ''
The Music Network
''The Music Network'' is an Australian magazine launched in 1994 by John Woodruff. In 2017, it was acquired by Jake Challenor, who serves as its publisher and editor.
History
''The Music Network'' was founded by John Woodruff in 1994, initi ...
'' gave the album a favourable review, saying that it was "just as rich, cheeky and steeped in pop history and musicality as its predecessor and as constructed and addictive as its breakout track ('
Somebody That I Used to Know
"Somebody That I Used to Know" is a song written, produced, and performed by Belgian-Australian singer-songwriter Gotye featuring vocals from New Zealand singer Kimbra. The song was released in Australia and New Zealand by Eleven Music on 5 ...
'), it will cement Wally de Backer as the oddball, everyman genius of Australian pop." ''The Herald Sun'' gave it four out of five stars, adding that "''Bronte'' and ''Giving Me a Chance'' are the latest in a long line of beautiful, visual songs begging to soundtrack the pivotal scene in a movie that's yet to be made."
Radar Radio also gave ''Making Mirrors'' four out of five stars and regarding the track "Eyes Wide Open" said, "with lyrics like 'Some people offered up answers / We made out like we heard / but they were only words / They didn't add up to a change in the way we were living'. Now don't get me wrong, I have never been in a situation like this yet it feels so relatable."
The album won the 2013
Grammy Award
The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...
for
Best Alternative Music Album
The Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album is an award presented to recording artists for quality albums in the alternative genre at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. Ho ...
.
Track listing
Personnel
*Wally De Backer – lead and backing vocals, songwriter, samples, instruments
*
François Tétaz
François "Franc" Tétaz (born 22 December 1970) is an Australian film composer, music producer and mixer, who won the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) / Australian Guild of Screen Composers (AGSC) 2006 'Feature Film Score of the ...
– dubs and spaces on "Making Mirrors"
*Lucas Taranto – bass guitar on "Easy Way Out", "Somebody That I Used to Know", "I Feel Better", "Save Me", poker bass on "Eyes Wide Open", fretless bass on "Bronte"
*Kimbra – lead and backing vocals on "Somebody That I Used to Know"
*Gareth Skinner – whale cellos on "Eyes Wide Open"
*Michael Hubbard –
pedal steel guitar
The pedal steel guitar is a Console steel guitar, console-type of steel guitar with pedals and knee levers that change the pitch of certain strings to enable playing more varied and complex music than any previous steel guitar design. Like all s ...
on "Eyes Wide Open"
*Luke Hodgson – bass guitar on "I Feel Better"
*Scott Tinkler – trumpet on "In Your Light"
*Adam Simmons – saxophone on "In Your Light"
*Frank De Backer – album artwork
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Decade-end charts
Certifications
See also
*
List of number-one albums of 2011 (Australia)
*
List of number-one albums of 2012 (Poland)
These are the Polish number one albums of 2012, per the OLiS Chart.
Chart history
References
{{Polish Music Charts
Number-one albums
Poland
2012
File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa ...
Notes
References
External links
*
Making Mirrors' at
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
*
{{Authority control
2011 albums
Albums recorded in a home studio
ARIA Award-winning albums
Eleven: A Music Company albums
Gotye albums
Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album