Looking for a dose of soul to add to your music playlist? Look no further than singer-songwriter Mirror Signal.
Mirror Signal, also known as 22-year-old Steven Barker, is an alt-soul artist, described by The Guardian as “Ed Sheeran locked in a studio all night with James Blake.”
Following a performance at The Montreal Jazz festival back in July, Mirror Signal has slowly been unveiling his EP Is It Only Me?. The first song to surface from the EP was ‘Try’, a brooding offering in which his pain is evident. “You never really cared for me….I can see it in your eyes” is repeated several times, with the singer pleading, “can you please get me out of this mess?” The track garnered support from Radio 1, Radio 2, Radio X, and Red Bull, to name a few.
The second track from the EP, ‘Shelter’, is a slightly more upbeat offering and gives off a laid back summer vibe, which makes us want to cling on to any lingering sunshine we may experience. ‘Shelter’ is a groove based track, delivered with trademark reverb drenched vocals and introspective wordplay. It provides a nice contrast to the previous track.
https://soundcloud.com/mirrorsignal/sets/is-it-only-me
The third song from Mirror Signal’s EP is ‘No One Can Save The World’, and as the title suggests, it’s a darker song than what we’ve heard so far. In his own words, the singer said: “Let’s just say I was in a pretty dark place when I wrote this song. I was at university with all of the time in the world to read about all of the things going on in the world, and well… I like the word world.”
‘The Power’s In…’ completes the four-track EP. Mirror Signal unveiled the song on his Facebook page and said, “This track is about the rollercoaster nature of anxiety. One day you feel on top of the world, and the next, it feels like it’s ending, and you’re the reason.” It is definitely a song that a lot of people will be able to relate to. Despite being of a fairly dark nature, the song is relaxed and ends up EP on a suitable note.
Mirror Signal has delivered an extremely relatable EP full of soul which has come from the heart. It’s a poignant listen but will no doubt resonate with many.
His sparse, avant-garde take on modern soul has been likened to Jai Paul, Jamie Woon and Sampha by critics and tastemakers. The singer’s previous tracks ‘All Along’ and ’20th Century Fix’ have garnered over one million listens online, and have been supported by Radio 1’s Huw Stephens, Radio 2’s Jamie Cullum, 6 Music’s Gilles Peterson and Radio X’s John Kennedy. You may have also seen Mirror Signal on the road in the past, having supported Jess Glynne, John Newman and Jamie Cullum.
It’s fair to say that Mirror Signal has fully established himself as one to watch and we’re excited for what the future has in store for him.
Is It Only Me? is available now.
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