Lights and Offerings
Encyclopedia
Lights and Offerings is the first studio album by British synthpop
band Mirrors
. The album was released in the UK on 28 February 2011 and on 18 March 2011 in Europe.
The title comes from the Mirrors song "Lights and Offerings" which was a B-side of their 2009 single "Into the Heart
". The song was re-recorded during their album sessions in June 2010, but never mixed or finished for inclusion on the album.
Most songs were already written in 2009 and demoed in that year as well. The song "Secrets" originally started as a Mumm-Ra song, written by James New, and was later transformed into a 14 minutes Mirrors song. The band decided to edit the track down to 10 minutes due to pressure from the record label. Mirrors released a few demos in 2009 and 2010 of songs that would later appear on the album, being "Hide and Seek", "Organ Song" (which would be re-titled to "Write Through the Night"), "Searching in the Wilderness", "Look at Me", "Into the Heart" and "Fear of Drowning".
Skint Records
releases:
PIAS
release:
Undo Records
release:
There is furthermore a digital release which contains the full album on iTunes
with an additional seven bonus tracks and five videos, including a live performance in Hamburg from 2010 and an album commentary.
A promotional CD was made available through a Facebook
competition in March 2011 featuring the Hamburg live performance from 2010 which was also available on iTunes. This promotional item however also includes an additional track being the intro of the concert.
to digital download and 7" version of "Ways to an End
" single.
"Of the Night and the Light and the Half Light" - bonus track on the "Ways to an End
" iTunes release. The music comes from the video with the same name.
"Toe the Line" - B-side to digital download and 7" version of "Hide and Seek
" single.
"Falls by Another Name" - B-side to digital download and 7" version of "Into the Heart" 2011 single.
Synthpop
Synthpop is a genre of popular music that first became prominent in the 1980s, in which the synthesizer is the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s by the use of synthesizers in progressive rock, electronic art rock, disco and particularly the "Kraut rock" of...
band Mirrors
Mirrors (band)
Mirrors are an English synthpop band originating from Brighton who formed in 2008. The band consists of James New , Ally Young , James Arguile and Josef Page...
. The album was released in the UK on 28 February 2011 and on 18 March 2011 in Europe.
The title comes from the Mirrors song "Lights and Offerings" which was a B-side of their 2009 single "Into the Heart
Into the Heart (Mirrors song)
"Into the Heart" is the second studio single by British synthpop band Mirrors. The single was released in the UK on 2 November 2009 as a 7" vinyl single and as a digital download on the Moshi Moshi Records label....
". The song was re-recorded during their album sessions in June 2010, but never mixed or finished for inclusion on the album.
Most songs were already written in 2009 and demoed in that year as well. The song "Secrets" originally started as a Mumm-Ra song, written by James New, and was later transformed into a 14 minutes Mirrors song. The band decided to edit the track down to 10 minutes due to pressure from the record label. Mirrors released a few demos in 2009 and 2010 of songs that would later appear on the album, being "Hide and Seek", "Organ Song" (which would be re-titled to "Write Through the Night"), "Searching in the Wilderness", "Look at Me", "Into the Heart" and "Fear of Drowning".
Overview
A number of different releases have been issued so far by three record labels.Skint Records
Skint Records
Skint Records is a Brighton based dance music record label owned by JC Reid, Tim Jeffery and Damian Harris. It was created as a sublabel of Loaded Records, also founded by Reid and Jeffery...
releases:
- The full album on CD.
- The full album on CD in a promotional box with two extra 7" singles, a press sheet and promotional photo. Limited to 300 copies of which approx 60 copies were destroyed due to the stencilling process and approx 40 were put up for sale at Skint Records.
- The full album on CD in the same promo box, though made for purchase by the public. This box is numbered inside the lid and comes with two additional 7" singles. Limited to approx 40 numbered copies.
- The full album on CD, coming with an exclusive bonus CD. Three different bonus CD's were made, to be sold exclusively through RecordStore.co.uk (catalogue number MIRRORS004), RoughTrade (MIRRORS005) and Skint Records (MIRRORS006, pre-order only).
- The full album as a double 12" vinyl with two bonus tracks, released on 3 May 2011 through the Skint Records webshop and 24 May 2011 through all big online retailers.
- The album was digitally released in France on 3 May 2011 with 6 bonus tracks. The album features French album and song titles, though the songs are the common English versions.
- The album was digitally re-released in October 2011 with three bonus tracks.
PIAS
PIAS Recordings
[PIAS] Recordings is the recorded music division of the [PIAS] Entertainment Group, a European independent artist and label services company.The record labels that operate under the [PIAS] Recordings umbrella are: Play It Again Sam, Wall of Sound and Different Recordings.Aside from the three London...
release:
- The full album on CD with two bonus tracks, being "Visions of You" and "Perfectly Still". This CD was only released in Germany.
Undo Records
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
release:
- The full album on CD with a bonus CD, only issued in Greece. Both discs are featured in a digipack with a black slipcase. The bonus disc contains some B-side and remixes. Released on 16 May 2011, although copies were not shipped out until end of June due to issues at the pressing plant.
There is furthermore a digital release which contains the full album on iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
with an additional seven bonus tracks and five videos, including a live performance in Hamburg from 2010 and an album commentary.
A promotional CD was made available through a Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
competition in March 2011 featuring the Hamburg live performance from 2010 which was also available on iTunes. This promotional item however also includes an additional track being the intro of the concert.
Track listing
B-sides and other tracks
"Broken by Silence" - B-sideA-side and B-side
A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of gramophone records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song , while the B-side, or...
to digital download and 7" version of "Ways to an End
Ways to an End
"Ways to an End" is the third studio single by British synthpop band Mirrors. The single was released in the UK on 23 August 2010 as a 7" single and as a digital download....
" single.
"Of the Night and the Light and the Half Light" - bonus track on the "Ways to an End
Ways to an End
"Ways to an End" is the third studio single by British synthpop band Mirrors. The single was released in the UK on 23 August 2010 as a 7" single and as a digital download....
" iTunes release. The music comes from the video with the same name.
"Toe the Line" - B-side to digital download and 7" version of "Hide and Seek
Hide and Seek (Mirrors song)
"Hide and Seek" is the fourth studio single by British synthpop band Mirrors. The single was released in the UK on 15 November 2010 as a 7" single, 12" single and as a digital download....
" single.
"Falls by Another Name" - B-side to digital download and 7" version of "Into the Heart" 2011 single.