The Mirror Pool

VINYL FORMAT. Re-mastered from the original analogue tapes specially for this vinyl edition and pressed on 180g vinyl, this is a Limited Edition with a new gatefold sleeve printed on heavyweight board and newly designed inner bag. Originally released in August 1995, this is the first time this album has ever appeared on vinyl. The artwork for the album has been specially designed by the original v23 partner Chris Bigg, who along with Vaughan Oliver were the creative genius behind the 4AD visual identity.

This solo album from Dead Can Dance co-founder Lisa Gerrard is a somber and transcendent work, with her multi-octave voice showcased in a jaw-dropping array of styles, including gothic, Celtic, early Christian, African, and Middle Eastern music. "Sanvean (I Am Your Shadow)" finds Gerrard wailing in divine rapture alongside the strings of the Victorian Philharmonic Orchestra, while on "Persian Love Song (The Silver Gun)," her vocal comes riding desert winds of grief across Middle Eastern strings and drums. The spooky chants of "The Rite" and devotional feel of "Laurelei" contrast interestingly with tracks like "Majhnavea's Music Box," an instrumental she plays on the yang ch'in (a Chinese version of the dulcimer), and the dramatic full orchestrations of "Le Bal (Song of the Drowned)." As befitting such a reverent album, Gerrard even takes on the music of Handel ("Largo"), and ends the recording by dropping her voice to express even more anguished depths of spiritual yearning. Like her work on the Gladiator and Whale Rider soundtracks, The Mirror Pool demonstrates Gerrard's unique ability to access a part of the human soul that transcend epochs and continents; this is deeply mysterious music, heart-rending in its beauty.