RESTLESS MOSAIC – QUALITY MIRRORS
A SPILL EXCLUSIVE ALBUM PREMIERE
Today we have the pleasure of revealing the new album from US-based electronic artist Restless Mosaic. Titled Quality Mirrors, this third long-play album from the Washington-based artist brings a stunning series of 11 tracks, following his 2022 album Made By Thawing Ice.
Restless Mosaic is the project of Brandon Isleib, named for the idea of a mosaic’s intricacy and structure, and how the parts and the whole relate in a way that they only make sense when they come together. Combining sounds and genres, usually considered disparate, he connects them into something greater than any one of them.
Quality Mirrors is a shimmering testament to sonic artistry. This meticulously crafted collection makes for an album that invites listeners to explore the liminal spaces between genres. Brandon Isleib’s vision, to weave disparate sounds into a cohesive whole, is realized with immersive finesse.
“The image I had in selecting Restless Mosaic as a name for myself was that of a mosaic in a plaza, observing the world passing around it and wanting to break free and join it. When you look at a mosaic, you’re looking at intricacy and structure, paying attention to how the parts and the whole relate. The material might be anything, and the choice of material is an artistic expression on its own, but the parts make sense only when they come together,” says Brandon Isleib.
“In the same way, I take sounds and genres usually considered disparate and connect them into something greater than any one of them. I have to pay close attention to song structures, transitions, and balanced textures. Anchoring certain aspects grounds the listener enough to follow the other aspects on their adventures. And it’s those adventures, those sonic explorations, that bring the Restless-ness.”
Restless Mosaic takes a principled approach to arrangement and textures, his lyrics are as vivid as they are polysyllabic. The music on this album is grounded – sonic adventures exploring a sense of restlessness. A setting in which listeners can expect the unexpected, this music is a boon for your neuroplasticity. With his music having been streamed over 3 million times via YouTube over the years, Restless Mosaic ow moves into the foreground with his own voice and a variety of collaborators.
This album showcases the artists’ diversity, from a Eurodance track that soundtrack your shopping experience to the shoegaze influences next to P-Funk-tinged chaos presided over by rapper Declaime of Aloe Blacc, Madlib, and Flying Lotus (he is also executive producer of Georgia Anne Muldrow’s Grammy-nominated Overload). Anji Bee of iconic dreampop duo Lovespirals and New York singer-songwriter Rose Alaimo contribute vocals on separate tracks and even mastering engineer Vincent Villuis (best known for his ambient work as Aes Dana, his psychill label Ultimae Records and work with Stevie Nicks and Sheryl Crow) is also in on the fun.
Isleib adds, “Although many of the genres in my music are electronic and known for their repetition, attention to shifting the sounds means that very few locked-in aspects stay locked in through the whole song; as long as something is doing that job at any given time, it doesn’t matter what. Instruments delivering the lead hook might join the bass line and allow something else to bring a hook; the foreground and background textures might swap; one half of the song might rotate around the other half. When you listen to a Restless Mosaic song, you know something’s going to change, whether within the song or from one song to the next, but you don’t know what. It will make sense when it arrives, but all you can do until then is anticipate.”
As of March 7, the Quality Mirrors album is available everywhere, including Apple Music, Spotify and Bandcamp. Later this year, Restless Mosaic aims to release a new album that brings Declaime’s poetry to Isleib’s back catalog of instrumentals.
Credits
Music written and performed by Brandon Isleib (aka Restless Mosaic)
Mastered by Vincent Villuis / Ultimae Records
Recorded, mixed and produced by Brandon Isleib, except
“Song One Is a Lie” lyrics by Nick Merchant. Engineered by Mark Merchant
“Poet of the Mic” engineered by Daviance Blunt. Lyrics and vocals / rap by Declaime
“Nearest Pool of Chaos” recorded, mixed & produced with Rose Alaimo
“Lost Within This Time” recorded, mixed & produced with Anji Bee
Lyrics, melody, vocals & video footage by Anji Bee. Additional production by Ryan Lum
Thanks to Madame Maledicta and Anji Bee for lyrics advice on “7000 Sparks”
Album art, music video & promo photos by Jennifer Wee
Restless Mosaic website design by Simone Eppler
Publicity by Shameless Promotion PR
Also enjoy this video for “Lost Within This Time”, featuring the ethereal vocals of Anji Bee of iconic dreampop duo Lovespirals. In the video, Anji (a ghost haunting an elevator) lures Isleib into her haunted elevator. Now entrapped, she commits his soul to the poster, taking her place:
Restless Mosaic
Quality Mirrors
(Independent)
Release Date: March 7, 2025
Artist Links
Background Photo Credit: Jennifer Wee
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