Silent Mirrors

Description

For the third release on Earthbound, Mihail P steps into a slightly different frame of mind with Silent Mirrors — an EP that pulls his atmospheric, emotive sound toward the rougher edges of 90s tech house, breakbeat and electro. While Mihail P has become known for spacious productions, warm pads and mellow melodic detail, Silent Mirrors is about merging that side of his sound with something more direct and club-focused. There is a clear nod here to the halcyon days of UK tech house and labels and artists such as Primitive Urges and Pure Science, but filtered through Mihail P’s own sensibility rather than treated as an exercise in nostalgia. A1, Hot Shots, opens the record with perhaps the clearest expression of that idea. The first half rides on a straight 4/4 groove, stripped and functional, before gradually opening into something much wider. Mihail P’s signature atmospheric pads begin to take over without ever disturbing the momentum underneath, turning the track into an atmospheric beast while keeping the groove firmly intact. A2, Silent Vector, moves into breakbeat territory with syncopated drums and a constantly shifting touch of flanger running through the rhythm. Around it, the rest of the track stays deliberately mellow: melodies drift from left to right across the stereo field while a deep, rounded bassline keeps everything moving. The result has a loose, almost jazzy quality while still sitting naturally inside the record’s club-minded framework. On the B-side, What Way gets nastier. Built around a distinctly 90s tech house foundation, the track combines a heavy bassline with melodies that feel deeper than the ocean, appearing and disappearing through the first half. As the track develops, the bassline begins to mutate and eventually takes over the foundations completely, pushing the second half toward a long crescendo. Female vocal snippets, light strings and subtle piano lines add extra movement without taking away from its presence on the floor. Closing the EP is Logical Life, bringing things back toward the more emotive side of Mihail P’s sound. A rolling 808 kick and carefully programmed drums form the backbone, accompanied by another deep bassline and a whispered female vocal that gives the track a little extra air. A melancholic melody, with a subtle nod toward the spirit of Likemind Records, carries the record toward its final moments — exactly the kind of reflective B2 needed to close Silent Mirrors on an emotional note. Across all four tracks, Silent Mirrors sits between memory and progression: 90s club music refracted through Mihail P’s atmospheric world, familiar in spirit but unmistakably his own.