Gotye? Gotcha!

“Somebody I Used To Know” is this big and growing hit. You know it. Even if you’ve never “heard” it, it’s always been there. It lives deep within your soul as some innate wisdom, like the kind that make you understand being sad is not the same being happy.

Making Mirrors was released in Australia in July and has been sweeping the world since then. It’s been wrapping us up in its warm embrace for months, sneaking into people’s minds through viral YouTube explosions and tasteful amounts of college radio airtime.

Let me start off by saying that this is an indie album like none other. It features mostly samples and instrumentation done by Wouter De Backer (He’s Gotye) himself. All of it is really tasteful though. This is no Girl Talk album.

"I just had a million dollar idea..." Photo Courtesy Emma Philips Photography

Really though. I have to reiterate that the sampling is as tasteful and well-executed as possible. In the single “Somebody That I Used to Know”, during Kimbra’s verse (she’s a guest vocalist in the song) there are these string layers that sound like they’re pulled out of a western. They very well could have been for all I know, and it is SO cool.

Apparently, according to the Gotye website, the album’s first single “Eyes Wide Open” features what I would call a fence bass, though it’s better described on his website: “Five massive metal strings attached to fence posts, and connected to a wooden resonant chamber. It goes ‘thwack’ and ‘boinngg’ in a remarkably pleasing way when struck. It’s in the middle of nowhere”

That. Right there. Million dollar idea.

Some other songs of note on the album are “Easy Way Out” which is two minutes of sensory entertainment. There’s stuff making cool noises coming at you from every direction. Very nifty. (You can quote me on that last sentence).

“In Your Light” is the perfect song for the inevitable Peter Gabriel comparisons. Those are all, by the way, spot on. The eccentricities and wonderment as well as the spot on energy levels and fantastic artisanship (I know. A lot of adjectives there…) of Gabriel are rife in this song. But, one must admit, there are far worse artists to be compared worth.

The whole album is enjoyable for various reasons. There are some things, I wasn’t quite as excited about (“Bronte” and “Feel Better”) but those were just a matter of taste. On a scale of one to ten, I let a friend borrow this album, and I’ll have to hound him until he gives it back. Making Mirrors is definitely one for the collection.