In a slow-motion zone, the Sadies' Dallas Good duets with his friend Richard Reed Parry on a song called "In a Moment," and the harmony is almost Everly Brothers perfect. It's a patient kind of expression that builds up to an orchestral release, musically, though the voices are delivered with all the urgency of a whisper.
Bordering on ASMR but, perhaps more accurately, conjuring the emotive attack of Elliott Smith, Parry dials the volume down for this introspective and atmospheric album that often feels like ten conjoined songs. Immersed in outdoor/environmental imagery and a philosophical contemplation that each and every one of us traversing Earth is really just dust in the making, Parry really brings the unknown home in haunting ways.
On "Where Did I Go," his voice soars above an ambient soundscape where even the drums propelling the piece sound like they're drowning. Meanwhile, he sings of his childhood, which was full of music thanks to his parents, each players and performers, who bolstered his desire to play himself. Sadly, Parry lost his father when he was 17, and here, he tells us about how much he was altered by the loss. It's permanent, death, and we all have to live with that.
Themes of loss and ecological collapse permeate this heady and compelling collection of songs, which buzz and hum eternally against a rising ocean of uncertainty. Parry's work here is sombre yet uplifting, as he goes after the hard stuff with impassioned resolve and a rich and varied musical landscape (there are maybe a million instruments employed on this out-of-genre release) that is as singular as it can be.
(Secret City Records)Bordering on ASMR but, perhaps more accurately, conjuring the emotive attack of Elliott Smith, Parry dials the volume down for this introspective and atmospheric album that often feels like ten conjoined songs. Immersed in outdoor/environmental imagery and a philosophical contemplation that each and every one of us traversing Earth is really just dust in the making, Parry really brings the unknown home in haunting ways.
On "Where Did I Go," his voice soars above an ambient soundscape where even the drums propelling the piece sound like they're drowning. Meanwhile, he sings of his childhood, which was full of music thanks to his parents, each players and performers, who bolstered his desire to play himself. Sadly, Parry lost his father when he was 17, and here, he tells us about how much he was altered by the loss. It's permanent, death, and we all have to live with that.
Themes of loss and ecological collapse permeate this heady and compelling collection of songs, which buzz and hum eternally against a rising ocean of uncertainty. Parry's work here is sombre yet uplifting, as he goes after the hard stuff with impassioned resolve and a rich and varied musical landscape (there are maybe a million instruments employed on this out-of-genre release) that is as singular as it can be.