The perennial question in rock music—nostalgia or new ground?—finds its answer in Allen Brooks. This Missouri-born musician and celebrated filmmaker is an artist who wields rock tradition as a dynamic tool for perpetual evolution. His latest single, “Mirrors In My Mind,” confirms his creative momentum, delivering a sound both reverent of classic rock storytelling and radically experimental in its execution.
Following the elegant, dusky darkness of “Caviar and Cigarettes,” Brooks pushes deeper into the shadows. “Mirrors In My Mind” concocts a thrillingly uneasy soundscape that sits between the psychedelic, brooding reverence of The Early Doors and the sheer gothic power of Marilyn Manson. It is an experience designed to be absorbed both cerebrally and physically.
Brooks’ artistic DNA is deeply cinematic. A NYFA graduate with directorial credits including Warner Bros./Dwight Yoakam’s “Waterfall,” he approaches music as a “filmmaker of sound,” viewing each song as a screenplay scored in real time. The self-directed, storyboarded, and performed music video is crucial to the track’s vision. Using green screen wizardry and cutting-edge AI animation, Brooks transforms the performance into a surreal, primal experience. The reappearance of his iconic owl persona, Valtherion, reinforces the track’s thematic core of haunting self-awareness and mystery.
“It’s a hell of a process,” Brooks cheerfully notes, “But completely worth it. I never thought I’d be able to create the kind of music videos I can now.” This visual accompaniment acts as a necessary extension, amplifying the song’s cerebral architecture.
The track’s production is a meticulous exercise in dark, organic texture. Brooks uses the acoustic guitar as a foundational core, with electric distortion serving as color—the formula from “Caviar and Cigarettes,” but applied with a darker purpose. The sound is tuned down a half-step and employs unconventional chord variations, resulting in an otherworldly resonance. Brooks unites an international team of collaborators, all recording from Argentina: Mariano Vega (drums), Mariano Power (saxophone), and Plátano Ebrio (orchestral timpani). Their remote performance achieves a startling, cohesive mood that’s equal parts tribal and transcendental. Italian producer Andrew Caccese provides the final polish, steering the mix into widescreen territory. Brooks wisely emphasizes the necessity of professional expertise: “hire and involve the most professional engineers and producers you can afford.”
Allen Brooks
The lyricism immediately plunges the listener into a surreal altered state: “There’s a river in my ceiling, and the stars begin to swim.” Brooks’ poetic voice is a fevered echo of Jim Morrison’s kaleidoscopic mysticism. Imagery of “voices crawling through the curtains” and a body that’s “just a rumor” charts the dissolution of identity, a recurring and profound theme in Brooks’ recent work.
The emotional complexity is highlighted by the sudden clarity of the chorus: “These visions in my mind – they’re drivin’ me crazy… we don’t need nothin’ but love.” This profound invocation acts as a human beacon in the delirium, confirming that love is the simple, beating heart beneath the sonic distortion. Brooks also provides moments of absurdist relief, referencing Primus and Steam Powered Giraffe, a humorous nod to his shared musical lineage. This gives way to Mariano Power’s explosive, Viagra Boys–style sax solo, which provides a jolt of manic, distorted jazz catharsis.
At 63, Brooks’ resumé is already legendary: a U.S. Navy veteran and rock road warrior who has shared the stage with Steppenwolf, Lou Gramm, and Molly Hatchet. Critically, he refuses to retreat into the comfort of legacy. His recent creative output shows an artist dedicated to constant reframing, driven by modern technology and global collaboration. “The fire’s still burning,” he states, hinting at a major “life-changing offer that will be revealed in 2027.”
“Mirrors In My Mind” is an eloquent exploration of consciousness, a hall of mirrors where the fractured nature of the self is confronted. The track represents the convergence of Brooks’ many lives—the musician, the filmmaker, the veteran—all meeting in one incandescent moment of reckoning. In a remarkable act of authenticity and gratitude, Brooks has released the track as a free download on allenbrooks.net, shunning algorithmic exclusivity. This simple gesture—”No signups or things to join. Just download and enjoy”—reminds us that music, at its purest, is meant to be a gift. Allen Brooks has delivered one of his most ambitious works yet, a truly haunting and uplifting odyssey that dares the listener to find truth in the distortion.
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