''Magic Mirror'' is the second

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

by American singer-songwriter

Pearl Charles Pearl Charles (born May 11, 1991) is an American singer-songwriter from Los Angeles, California. Her sound is a melding of 1960s rock and 1970s cosmic country. Education Pearl Charles earned a BFA in music from CalArts. Music Pearl Charles ...

. It was released on January 15, 2021, through

Kanine Records Kanine Records is an independent record label based in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, New York started at the end of 2002 by Lio and Kay Kanine. Their first release, ''NY: The Next Wave'', was a 20 track compilation featuring mostly unsign ...

Release

Pearl Charles announced the release of her second studio album on September 15, 2020.

Singles

On September 15, 2020, Pearl Charles released the first single from the album, "What I Need". In a press release of the single, Charles explained: "Have you ever stuck with something long after it was time to let go? "What I Need" explores this choice in terms of a breakup, though it could really be applied to any situation that is no longer serving you. It's the age-old story of wanting to stay in a comfortable relationship but knowing that you have to move on for personal growth, and the fear and uncertainty that being alone will bring, even though it's for the best." The second single "Take Your Time" was released on October 13, 2020.

Critical reception

''Magic Mirror'' was met with "generally favorable" reviews from critics. At

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, which assigns a weighted average rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, this release received an

average In colloquial, ordinary language, an average is a single number or value that best represents a set of data. The type of average taken as most typically representative of a list of numbers is the arithmetic mean the sum of the numbers divided by ...

score of 78 based on 7 reviews. At AnyDecentMusic?, the release was given a 7.6 out of 10 based on 10 reviews. Writing for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

, Timothy Monger stated: "Pearl Charles strikes a confident, if laid-back tone on Magic Mirror, her sophomore album. The production and arrangements throughout are impeccable, warm, and well-suited to the kind of thoughtful, low-key songwriting at which Charles excels. Magic Mirror is the kind of subtle record that reveals its pleasures through repeated listens. Even Charles' voice is a comfort." At ''

Beats Per Minute Beat, beats, or beating may refer to: Common uses * Assault, inflicting physical harm or unwanted physical contact * Battery (crime), a criminal offense involving unlawful physical contact * Battery (tort), a civil wrong in common law of in ...

'', Ana Leorne wrote: "The album embodies liberation in the profoundest of ways, a pondered life-changing move that is definitely not the product of naive hot-headedness. Led by warm and sparkly singles "What I Need", "Imposter", and "Take Your Time", Magic Mirror is deliciously referential whilst refusing to remain stuck in a particular time and space that only exists in selective memory. Jordan Currie at ''

Exclaim! ''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly ''Exclaim!'' print magazine publishes seven ...

'' rated the release an 8 out of 10, writing "The singer-songwriter's second LP is a blissful journey of cosmic country, disco and poppy psych rock that dances its way into the new year. Magic Mirror is a young woman's trip through a whirlwind of self-reflection and self-discovery." At

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

, Roisin O'Connor said: "Influenced heavily by the sun-drenched sounds of Sixties and Seventies California, Magic Mirror incorporates bright, cosmic synths and classic rock motifs, along with brilliant, subtle flexes of country slide guitar. While Charles frequently plays with themes of self-doubt and setbacks, the buoyant instrumentation provides a freewheeling sense of optimism." John Amen, writing for ''Cultural Daily'', gave the album a score of 7.9/10, concluding: "The winning elements of Magic Mirror are Pearl Charles’s supple voice and her knack for reimagining the classic templates of 60’s and 70’s singer-songwriters. Charles blends resourcefulness and a contemporary flair, displaying what might be dubbed an historically informed originality."

Track listing

Personnel

Musicians *

– lead vocals, percussion * Dustin Bookatz – bass * Ryan Miller – drums, percussion * Connor "Catfish" Gallaher – guitar,

pedal steel The pedal steel guitar is a console steel guitar with pedals and knee levers that change the pitch of certain strings, enabling more varied and complex music to be played than with other steel guitar designs. Like all steel guitars, it can play ...

* Michael Rault – guitar, keyboards *

Lewis Pesacov Lewis Pesacov (born November 24, 1979) is a record producer, audio engineer, mixing engineer, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and composer based in Los Angeles. Some of his production, songwriting, and mixing credits include Best Coast, Nikk ...

– guitar, keyboards * Max Mart – pedal steel, keyboards * Drew Erickson – keyboards * Mitchell Toshida – keyboards *

Farmer Dave Scher Beachwood Sparks are an American alternative country band from Los Angeles. An article in ''The Daily Telegraph'' on America's underground psychedelic pop scene described Beachwood Sparks as "country through a kaleidoscope". Biography The band ...

– keyboards * Bradleah Mac –

horns Horns or The Horns may refer to: * Plural of Horn (anatomy) * Plural of Horn (instrument), a group of musical instruments all with a horn-shaped bells * The Horns (Colorado), a summit on Cheyenne Mountain * Horns (novel), ''Horns'' (novel), a dar ...

* Stewart Cole – horns * Matt Popieluch –

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and in modern forms is usually made of plastic, where early membranes were made of animal skin. ...

* Magic Mirror Quartet – strings Technical * Lewis Pesacov –

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stat ...

, mixing, recording * Reuben Cohen – mastering * Garret Lang – engineering assistance * James Meder – engineering assistance Visuals * Dana Trippe – photos * Harrison Roberts – art, design,

layout In general terms, a layout is a structured arrangement of items within certain limits, or a plan for such arrangement. Specifically, layout may refer to: * Page layout, the arrangement of visual elements on a page ** Comprehensive layout (comp), ...

References

External links

Magic Mirror
at

* * {{Authority control 2021 albums Kanine Records albums