Mariel Darling “No Mirrors”
URL: https://marieldarling.com/
A medley of glassy tones scatter in front of us. Even before she starts to sing, Mariel Darling is having an effect on the mood in the room. She takes in a breath, and starts to sing. “Far from perfect, but I got my pride / ‘Cause I keep on wearing my crown on the inside” she croons with uncertain confidence, strong in her voice and a little shaky in her heart. As its title implies, “No Mirrors” is all about Mariel Darling staring herself down and coming to the realization that she doesn’t need to care about self-image to be a powerful human being. Her voice soars as she hits the chorus and cathartically proclaims her disinterest in holding these No Mirrors in high regard, and the emotion in her voice is contagious.
Sonic teardrops drench the ground around us and we start to feel like we might be drowning in our own isolation. The music forces itself around us and constricts to our bodies. There is no escaping its clutches without the help of Darling, whose strut and swagger is enough to move entire mountain ranges when she’s in the right sort of groove. There’s nothing to keep her from reaching out and touching our hearts, but she goes beyond that. She lifts us out of the overcast clouds of depression and desertion and brings us to her side, where we’ve got a friend who has been to the dark places with us and doesn’t want to ever see us return.
Few pop singers are able to evoke such strong emotions with a song or a music video, but Mariel Darling’s brave assertions and melodic insistence is too fetching to look away from when she’s in the heat of the moment. “No Mirros”“No Mirrors” is her at her most vulnerable, and she isn’t scared to let us take a peek at who she really is, scars and all. The empowering thing about this song isn’t rooted in the lyrics or even the major key progression that it sports like a diamond tennis bracelet. It’s the tone in which Mariel Darling delivers her words unto us, which not only makes Darling look talented beyond her years but also comforts anyone who is desperately in need of a lift in life.
“No Mirrors” starts us off in dire straits but sees us through all the way to the finish line, where we end up dancing with Mariel Darling in the glory of a new day’s sun. Darling is very young to have the spotlight that she’s got on her at the moment, but the fact that she shows this level of skill and hasn’t even finished high school yet shouldn’t make critics wary of her staying power; it should make them thrilled to see how she matures and cultivates her sound as she gets older. Most artists would spend years, sometimes even decades to get to where she’s at aesthetically. She’s got my attention, and thanks to “No Mirrors” I think she’ll soon have the rest of the worlds as well.
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Zachary Rush