Vanity Mirror “Dandelion Wish”

Vanity Mirror, dreamy lo-fi bedroom pop via Toronto and Los Angeles, have just announced their highly anticipated debut LP PUFF (due out Spring 2023 on We Are Busy Bodies) with an advance single and video for the song Dandelion Wish. Dandelion Wish features colorful piano riffs and artful backbeats from Vanity Mirror’s Brent Randall (Gentle Brent, Electric Looking Glass) and percussionist Johnny Toomey (The Turns, Electric Looking Glass).

Randal describes Dandelion Wish as “a sophisticated bedroom pop ditty for wayward situationships. It’s the second single from Vanity Mirror’s debut album PUFF; a vulnerable collection of homespun pop experiments. This lo-fi flower-ballad blends soft nylon strumming with sparkling electric jangle; playful mellotron flourishes with an urgent quirksome rhythm section. Catch a ray of sun in your window and whistle along”. Listeners will hear careful nods to The Kinks, Idle Race and The Raspberries delicately weaved into the hook-filled composition.

The music video for Dandelion Wish was made with L.A. based graphic designer/videographer extraordinaire Mat Dunlap and shot on a Sony handycam to get that super lo-fi look.

Randal explains, “We always loved the look of Big Bang Baby by the Stone Temple Pilots and wanted something like that. This turned out a little different but still has that vibe. Johnny and I have a great love of fashion and large wardrobes so we planned out all these different monochromatic outfits that matched the little set we made in the photo studio. So as we perform the song our outfits magically change from matching satin pink, velvet green, denim blue etc. I think it’s pretty fun. It kind of comes off as an early 80’s local public television children’s show. It’s kind of odd but it matches our vibe.  We shot this again with Mat Dunlap who added some groovy lyrical elements too, so all the kids at home can sing along”.

The duo of Toronto-based Brent Randall and Los Angeles-dwelling Johnny Toomey are known for their previous achievements with Los Angeles based, baroque-pop group, The Electric Looking Glass. Both musicians compliment each other stylistically and add sparks to their newest project, Vanity Mirror. Their debut LP, PUFF was written, recorded, performed, produced and even mixed by Brent Randall.

The resulting album starts where their other project Electric Looking Glass leaves off, with hummable, dreamy pop that branches out into more intimate, less genre specific freeform songcraft. It is a nostalgic collection of songs pieced together in makeshift spaces while traveling between LA, Montreal, Detroit and Toronto.

Taping old pianos in public libraries and abandoned houses and tracking vocals in vintage shop basements, Randall  sent the tracks to Toomey who recorded drums and percussion in his Los Angeles basement using a handheld field recorder. Listeners will call to mind artists like Emitt Rhodes, Olivia Tremor Control, and Belle and Sebastian. Vanity Mirror’s PUFF will see a digital/vinyl release on May 12th,  2023 via We Are Busy Bodies.

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