Los Angeles duo Mirrorball has shared the second single from their forthcoming debut EP with the release of “Red Hot Dust.” They will also be performing in Los Angeles twice at Permanent Records Roadhouse on Jun. 24 and at Gold Diggers on Aug. 15. The project of singer/songwriter Alexandra Johnstone and multi-instrumentalist and composer Scott Watson, they create a kind of gloaming indie-pop that evokes a certain bittersweet nostalgia. Fans of fellow duo Midnight Sister will absolutely delight in the upbeat synth-struts that burn radiantly within their previous single “Tinsel For a Tear.”
This post may contain affiliate links. Ads and affiliate links are how independent blogs like Grimy Goods can operate and pay our staff. Thank you for supporting our work and being a part of our music community.
“Red Hot Dust” also arrives as their second produced by Chris Coady, whose past work with acts like Beach House and Yeah Yeah Yeahs finds fruition in the song’s hauntingly resplendent melodics. Guided by the gloaming vocals of Johnstone the song hones in on a desire to find some sunlight amidst the gloom — making it a rather timely release when much of Los Angeles finds itself covered by a gray marine layer. Blanketed in the lush textures of Watson’s composition the song is layered by the paced meandering keys and synths that edge her dreamy wails further and further into this ethereal melancholy.
Of the song, Johnstone says that it was written: “during difficult times as a way of forcing some light to the surface, and because I wanted to feel like I could go home again at a time when I could not physically go home.” That sentiment and bittersweet pull of home overflows from the emphatically surreal imagery of her lyricism. “The devil is in a dark place,” she coos. “He’s lost all self-control / I’ve won but lost the whole race.”
Fueled by such a pyrrhic victory “Red Hot Dust” unfolds as an act of escape. One that imagines Mirrorball’s two dream heads burning rubber down Los Angeles freeways: “Desert pink fill my lungs / Canyon of dreams fill my guns,” Johnstone laments earnestly. Coupled with their lead single “Tinsel For a Tear,” the bittersweet wonderment of “Red Hot Dust” signals a truly enchanting debut is on the way.
See Mirrorball in Los Angeles at Permanent Records Roadhouse on Jun. 24 and at Gold Diggers on Aug. 15.
Visit Mirrorball on their Bandcamp and Instagram to stay updated on new releases and tour announcements.
Mirrorball tour
6/24 Los Angeles, CA – Permanent Records Roadhouse
7/01 Ventura, CA – All Kinds Studio
8/15 Los Angeles, CA – Gold Diggers
Words: Steven Ward
Listen to “Red Hot Dust” the new single from Mirrorball below!
