MUSIC REVIEW: GOTYE - 'MAKING MIRRORS'

Pop Hooks, Reflective Lyrics & Twisted Tunes All Set the Musical Traps

By: Jesse Livingston

February 2, 2012

(Universal Records) What is “Gotye”? Is that, like, another way of saying “Gotcha”? Well yes, in a way, it is. The pop hooks, creative instrumentation, and expressive vocals on Gotye's Making Mirrors will ensnare you as surely as any trap.

Gotye is actually the stage name of Wouter “Wally” de Backer. He's a Belgian-Australian musician and member of Melbourne indie-pop band The Basics. In French, “Wouter” is “Gaultier,” pronounced “go-tee-ay,” like the clothing designer. It's what de Backer's grandmother used to call him, so he came up with his own spelling. He's been making music since he was a kid, and it shows. His songs grab hold of you and shake you around with their driving beats and powerful sense of atmosphere.

Making Mirrors is a crazy rollercoaster of styles and emotions. Some songs sound like Depeche Mode jams, some like ghostly Radiohead ballads. “I Feel Better” is a dead ringer for a Motown soul tune — so much so that you'll swear it's a cover of a Motown classic. Many of the beats and arrangements recall dub and reggae.

“Somebody That I Used To Know” is the centerpiece, with two separate versions running through the album like tent poles. The song -- a duet with New Zealand singer Kimbra -- has hit number one on many international charts, and won awards. It's so surprise, as the song is both weird and accessible — like all great art — and conveys an extremely focused state of mind that most people who have experienced lost love will identify with. The line “Now you're just somebody that I used to know” cuts to the heart of an existential mystery: how can people be physically and emotionally intimate with each other and then go their separate ways, as though the other had never existed? The intangible and immutable space between us hasn't been this well-illuminated since Radiohead's “Where I End and You Begin.”

In many ways, Gotye reminds one of The Cure's best work, in that it's a marriage of pop music and experimental strangeness. Anyone with talent and a little curiosity can explore the shadows where most people fear to tread, but to take those shadows and pull them out into the light for all to see, without them disintegrating immediately, is a special feat of magic.

That's what makes Gotye's music remarkable -- it gives you an eerie little thrill, even as it makes you want to dance and sing the words to yourself. It's like you're catching a glimpse around a corner that should, by all rights, be out of your field of vision. It's like a certain quality of light in the late afternoon that gives you a particular undefinable feeling and makes you think of faraway places.

Gotye has worked very hard to get his music out there. There were days when he colored every record sleeve by hand and followed up every record sent with a personal phone call to make sure it was being listened to. Now, he's finally reaping the rewards of all that work and is gaining new listeners by the day, due largely to word-of-mouth. With such an excellent catalogue of songs as those on Making Mirrors, you shouldn't waste any time in adding yourself to the ranks of the converted.

Standout Tracks: "Somebody That I Used To Know," "I Feel Better," Don't Worry We'll Be Watching You," "Easy Way Out"

For Fans of: Kimbra, Depeche Mode, Kate Bush, Radiohead, The Dead 60s, Peter Gabriel