MirrorMouth, ‘Love and Emotions’

A thoughtful, funny and decidedly danceable addition to the MirrorMouth catalogue.

Playful melodies, a chorus built to be sung back, and a generous helping of tongue-in-cheek humour: ‘Love and Emotions’ by MirrorMouth is pop that sounds like a good time from the first bar. Blending English and Spanish lyrics, it keeps the atmosphere lively and feel-good throughout.

That is where the trick lies. Underneath the sunshine, the words are provocative. MirrorMouth, a Zurich-based songwriter with a past in international private banking, asks a simple question: if love is an emotion, and emotions change like seasons, why do we turn it into a lifelong legal commitment? He insists he is no enemy of romance. “I love love! And I believe in love!” he says, adding that he simply questions whether marriage is the best way to celebrate it.

The bilingual wordplay earns its place too. The Spanish ‘esposas’ means both ‘wives’ and ‘handcuffs’, a coincidence the song gleefully leans on. It is the sort of detail that rewards a second listen.

MirrorMouth does not stop at the joke. He floats an alternative called a ‘Parenting Partnership’, a defined commitment to raise children together for around 20 years that expires without the need for a divorce. It is an unusual idea for a pop single, and it gives the song a backbone. “Instead of promising eternal love, we would be making a more realistic promise: to take responsibility for the children we bring into the world,” he says.

The result is a song with the catchiness of an easy singalong and the bite of a debate. In a crowded field of love songs, ‘Love and Emotions’ stands out by being willing to argue with the genre, and by smiling while it does. It is accompanied by an official music video directed by Lorenzo Segatori, out now!