Imaginary Family - “Mirage”
Photo by Louise Isselé
From Ghent, Belgium, singer-songwriter Joanna Isselé, aka Imaginary Family, has just released the delightfully stripped-back sounds of “Mirage,” the second single from her forthcoming debut album.
“Mirage” opens to the soft plucks of muted strings, marvelously resounding from an acoustic guitar. Deep in the track’s underbelly, a heartbeat rhythm sends a trance-inducing pulse through the sonic space as the subtle tones of a synth permeate the arrangement. The ensuing sound is truly enchanting and listeners shall be ever so grateful that they pressed the play button.
But where Isselé has thoroughly won us over is with her vocal performance, conjuring the best parts of artists like Lana Del Rey and Haley Heynderickx as she delivers introspective lyrics that traverse letting go of the past in order to succeed. For the first half of “Mirage,” she serenades us from above the sparse arrangement, though patient listeners shall be rewarded with a lo-fi beat that lends a profound sense of dynamic variation.
Midpoint delivers heavenly layers of vocals to your ears, effectively widening the soundscape and saturating every square inch of your listening pleasure. There is a certain Radiohead quality to the track, at times reminiscent of “Exit Music (for a Film)” in its deliciously captivating vibe. The refrain during the more ethereally-charged second half are as hypnotic as the instrumental itself: “Find a mirage and make it real.”
If you’ve been searching for a song to serve as a daily dose of positive affirmations, we implore you not to sleep on this mesmerizing number. “Mirage” will work its way to your very center and refill you with a light that has likely ceased to burn.
-HD