"Mirror" is a song by Norwegian singer-songwriter Sigrid from her second studio album, ''

How to Let Go ''How to Let Go'' is the second studio album by Norwegian singer-songwriter Sigrid, released on 6 May 2022 through Island Records. The album serves as the follow-up to Sigrid's debut album, ''Sucker Punch'' (2019). The album was promoted by the ...

'' (2022). Sigrid co-wrote the song with Caroline Ailin,

Emily Warren Emily Warren Schwartz (born August 25, 1992) is an American singer and songwriter signed to the label Prescription Songs. She is best known for the songs she has written for several high-profile pop artists, including Backstreet Boys, The Chai ...

and

Sylvester Sivertsen Sylvester Willy Sivertsen (born 8 May 1992), known professionally as Sly, is a Danish songwriter and music producer who has written and/or produced the following: Dua Lipa's "We're Good", Sigrid's "Mirror", Jonas Brothers' "Comeback" (from the ...

, with the latter also producing it. She came up with the song after she had ended a relationship. It was released on 26 May 2021 as the first single from the album, marking her first release since 2019. The instrumentation consists of several music instruments, such as drums, piano and

synthesizer A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...

s. A

disco Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric pia ...

track, it touches on themes of

empowerment Empowerment is the degree of autonomy and self-determination in people and in communities. This enables them to represent their interests in a responsible and self-determined way, acting on their own authority. It is the process of becoming strong ...

freedom Freedom is understood as either having the ability to act or change without constraint or to possess the power and resources to fulfill one's purposes unhindered. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving on ...

and

self-love Self-love, defined as "love of self" or "regard for one's own happiness or advantage", has been conceptualized both as a basic human necessity and as a moral flaw, akin to vanity and selfishness, synonymous with amour-propre, conceitedness, eg ...

. "Mirror" was acclaimed by music critics, who praised its disco sound and lyrical themes. Commercially, the song reached number 13 in Norway and charted moderately in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It also topped ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Dance/Mix Show Airplay Dance/Mix Show Airplay (formerly Hot Dance Airplay) is a monitored electronic dance music radio chart that is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. History The chart came about as a result of the small but influential impact of electronic d ...

chart. A

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

directed by Femke Huurdeman premiered alongside the song. The video depicts Sigrid being accompanied by a double while engaging in various activities. Sigrid performed "Mirror" several times in 2021, including at the

Reading and Leeds Festival The Reading and Leeds Festivals are a pair of annual music festivals that take place in Reading and Leeds in England. The events take place simultaneously on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the August bank holiday weekend. The Reading Festiv ...

and

Jingle Bell Ball The Jingle Bell Ball is a concert held annually in December since 2008 (except for 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic), by the radio station Capital FM at The O2. Artists that have headlined the concert include Katy Perry, Taylor Swift, Li ...

. She also included it on her set list for Glastonbury Festival 2022.

Background and release

Sigrid released her debut album '' Sucker Punch'' in 2019. After its supporting concert tour concluded in December 2019, she chose to take a break from releasing music in the following year to focus on the development of her second studio album. In May 2021, Sigrid started the Walk with Sigrid campaign to encourage her fans to find clues about her new music through a scavenger hunt across their local cities. On 19 May, Sigrid shared a snippet of "Mirror" on her

TikTok TikTok, known in China as Douyin (), is a short-form video hosting service owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which can range in duration from 15 seconds to 10 minutes. TikTok is an international version ...

account, announcing that it would be released a week later. The song marked Sigrid's first release since "Home to You" (2019). "Mirror" was released as the first single from ''How to Let Go'' on 26 May 2021 in various countries by

Island Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in 1959 by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in Jamaica, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, anoth ...

for digital download and

streaming Streaming media is multimedia that is delivered and consumed in a continuous manner from a source, with little or no intermediate storage in network elements. ''Streaming'' refers to the delivery method of content, rather than the content it ...

. On the same day, Petroleum Records issued the song in Norway for the same formats. Island and

Republic Records Republic Records is a New York City–based American record label owned by Universal Music Group (UMG). It was founded by Avery Lipman and Monte Lipman as an independent label in 1995, and was acquired by UMG in 2000. Republic was initially an ...

sent the single to American dance radio stations on 1 June 2021 while

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

sent it to Italian radio stations on 11 June.

Composition and lyrics

Musically, "Mirror" has been described as a

song. Lyrically, it tackles themes of

and

. The song was written by Sigrid alongside Caroline Ailin,

and

, while produced by the latter under the pseudonym "Sly". "Mirror" was recorded at Sly Studio in Copenhagen and Gold Diggers in Los Angeles. Sigrid wrote the song following a break-up, telling ''

i-D ''i-D'' is a British bimonthly magazine published by Vice Media, dedicated to fashion, music, art and youth culture. ''i-D'' was founded by designer and former ''Vogue (magazine), Vogue'' art director Terry Jones (i-D), Terry Jones in 1980. The ...

'' that it "is about being okay with all the negative sides of your personality as well as the positive sides, and living with that. It's about moving on from heartache and accepting who you are". She further explained that it "is a song about accepting your personality in all its flaws". Writing for ''

Stereogum ''Stereogum'' is a daily Internet publication that focuses on music news, reviews, interviews, and commentary. The site was created in January 2002 by Scott Lapatine. ''Stereogum'' was one of the first MP3 blogs and has received several award ...

'', Chris DeVille asserted that the song is "driven by a powerful bass groove, bolstered by contagious bursts of house piano, and accented by a string section". ''

Vulture A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including Condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to North and ...

'' Brennan Carley stated that "Mirror" is "swaddled in swelling pianos and

synths A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and f ...

" and appears to have "a standard

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * ''Pop'' (G ...

construction" which consists of "vocals, piano, a steady drum, recurring

strings String or strings may refer to: *String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...

, and a synthesizer". Moreover, he added "

he chorus He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' in ...

drops everything but its kick drum and piano, hoisting her technically pitch-perfect singing to the forefront". Jason Lipshutz, for ''

'', asserted that during the

chorus Chorus may refer to: Music * Chorus (song) or refrain, line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse * Chorus effect, the perception of similar sounds from multiple sources as a single, richer sound * Chorus form, song in which all verse ...

, Sigrid "gathers up the shards of her confidence" with "strings fluttering around her" and declares, "I love who I see, looking at me, in the mirror!" According to Thomas Smith of ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'', the chorus's "buoyant, direct message" is "under-pinned by slick beats and party-starting piano stabs".

Reception

"Mirror" received acclaim from music critics. DeVille called it a "disco jam", likening it to the tracks on

Dua Lipa Dua Lipa ( , ; born ) is an English and Albanian singer and songwriter. Possessing a mezzo-soprano vocal range, she is known for her signature disco- pop sound. Lipa has received numerous accolades, including six Brit Awards, three Gramm ...

's album '' Future Nostalgia'' (2020). Lipshutz labelled "Mirror" as "a disco-tinged, summertime dose of self-love" and considered the chorus to be "indelible". Carley affirmed that the song's bridge is a "homage to disco legends of yesteryear (with shades of

Giorgio Moroder Giovanni Giorgio Moroder (, ; born 26 April 1940) is an Italian composer, songwriter, and record producer. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Father of Disco", Moroder is credited with pioneering euro disco and electronic dance mu ...

and

Chic Chic (; ), meaning "stylish" or "smart", is an element of fashion. It was originally a French word. Pronounced Chick. Etymology ''Chic'' is a French word, established in English since at least the 1870s. Early references in English dictiona ...

)" and lauded Sigrid's vocals. BBC Music reporter Mark Savage named it "a blossoming disco anthem about conquering loneliness and emptiness". '' Clash'' Robin Murray also praised Sigrid's vocal delivery and noted that "Mirror" is "one of igrid'smost potent ongsto date". Smith stated that the song is "a celebration of the incremental changes we make; rarely do we engage in wholesale makeovers, but full of subtle improvements and recalibrations". A reviewer for '' DIY'' declared that "Sigrid is back with a banger". Lora Doyle of '' Hot Press'' called it "infectiously catchy". An editor for Capital FM compared "Mirror" favourably to American singer Lizzo and that it is "the self-love bop we all need ahead of ' hot girl summer'". In Sigrid's native Norway, "Mirror" debuted and peaked at number 13, staying on the chart for 12 consecutive weeks. On ''Billboard''

chart, it became her second entry following " Don't Feel Like Crying" (2019). "Mirror" eventually topped the chart for the week ending 4 September 2021. Elsewhere, the single reached numbers 22 on ''Billboard'' Mexico Ingles Airplay chart, 49 in the United Kingdom and 76 in Ireland.

Music video and live performances

Femke Huurdeman, working for Spanish production company

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, directed the

, which premiered alongside the single on 26 May 2021. Throughout the visual, Sigrid performs various activities, such as spending time with a chameleon, shooting a bow and arrow and "channeling a living

Rococo Rococo (, also ), less commonly Roccoco or Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and theatrical style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpted moulding, ...

painting as she poses with a pomegranate" while being accompanied by a double. She sports different "flashy and unflashy outfits" with one "flicker nglike a disco ball". Sigrid revealed to ''i-D'' that her and her double disagreeing with each other illustrates "when you don't really know what’s going on inside your head." Regarding the visual, Huurdeman stated that "For me it's always important to showcase a three-dimensional image of a character." Doyle called the music video "colourful", while Murray deemed it "bold". ''i-D'' Frankie Dunn considered that "the styling provides a playful contrast to Sigrid's usual look". Sigrid performed "Mirror" live for the first time on '' Later... with Jools Holland'' on 28 May 2021. In June of the same year, she sang it at Norwegian radio station

NRK P3 NRK P3 is a nationwide digital radio channel operated by the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK). It was established as NRK's third radio channel in 1993, and was the result of the NRK radio channel reform initiated in 1992 by radio dire ...

. Sigrid gave a performance of "Mirror" on 16 July 2021 for ''

The One Show ''The One Show'' is a British television magazine and chat show programme. Broadcast live on BBC One weeknights at 7:00 pm, it features topical stories and studio guests. It is currently co-hosted by Alex Jones, Jermaine Jenas, and Ronan K ...

''. On 28 August 2021, the singer sang the track at the 2021

. Sigrid performed the single at Capital FM's concert

in December 2021. "Mirror" was also included on the singer's set list at Glastonbury Festival 2022.

Track listing

*Digital download # "Mirror"2:36 *Digital download (Paul Woolford Remix) # "Mirror (Paul Woolford Remix)"3:18 *Digital download (By the Piano) # "Mirror (By the Piano)"2:45 *Digital download (Zookëper Remix) # "Mirror (Zookëper Remix)"2:45 *Digital download (Kelly Lee Owens Remix) # "Mirror (

Kelly Lee Owens Kelly Lee Owens (born 24 August 1988) is a Welsh electronic musician and producer. She released her self-titled first album in 2017 to critical praise, her follow-up album ''Inner Song'' was released in August 2020. Her third studio album ''LP.8 ...

Remix)"3:27 *Digital download (Maliboux Remix) # "Mirror (Maliboux Remix)"2:31

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of ''How to Let Go''. Recording and management *Recorded at Sly Studio (Copenhagen, Denmark) and Gold Diggers (Los Angeles, California) *Published by

Sony Music Publishing Sony Music Publishing (formerly Sony/ATV Music Publishing) is the largest music publisher in the world, with over five million songs owned or administered as of end March 2021. US-based, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is itself owned ...

/ Sony ATV / Lions, Tigers and Songs / Havenwood House / Prescription Songs Personnel *Sigrid Solbakk Raabelead vocals, songwriter, piano * Caroline Ailinsongwriter, vocal producer, background vocals *

songwriter, background vocals * Sylvester Willy Sivertsensongwriter, producer, bass, drums, programming,

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

*Josh Gudwin mixing *Christian Bergqvistviolin *Iskandar Komillovviolin *Martin Stenssonviolin *Kristina Ebberstenviolin *Per Ömanviolin *Veronica Novotnaviolin *Ingegerd Kierkegaard

viola The viola ( , also , ) is a string instrument that is bow (music), bowed, plucked, or played with varying techniques. Slightly larger than a violin, it has a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of ...

*Tony Bauerviola *Helena Nilssoncello *Henrik Janson conductor *Ulf Jansonconductor *John Greenham mastering

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{Sigrid 2021 singles 2021 songs Body image in popular culture English-language Norwegian songs Norwegian dance songs Disco songs Island Records singles Sigrid (singer) songs Universal Music Group singles Songs about freedom Songs with feminist themes Songs written by Sigrid (singer) Songs written by Caroline Ailin Songs written by Emily Warren