TESS PARKS - Pomegranate (Yellow Lp)

Longing. Heartbreak. Levity. Joy. Being filled with love for all things. All of these sensations
flow at once through Canadian singer-songwriter Tess Parks’ new album, Pomegranate. Reestablishing
Parks as the consummate artist-observer against a swirling nouveau-delic
backdrop, her third solo album arrives on October 25th 2024 (Fuzz Club / Hand Drawn
Dracula) and was produced by multi-instrumentalist and close collaborator Ruari Meehan,
who shared mixing duties with Grammy-nominated engineer Mikko Gordon (The Smile, Gaz
Coombes, Arcade Fire).
Though Tess Parks first became widely known for her string of collaborations with Brian
Jonestown Massacre mastermind Anton Newcombe, her 2022 solo offering And Those Who
Were Seen Dancing left an unforgettable impression with its signature blend of weight,
whimsy, and open-heartedness. The New York Times would praise its 'confident,
enchanting presence', whilst Exclaim! proclaimed it as a record that 'demands to be heard
and felt'. Where Dancing retained a fair measure of bedroom-demo charm, this time the
canvas is bigger, with Meehan’s arrangements stretching all the way to the horizon. This is
the most ambitious and cinematic Parks’ music has ever sounded. Drawing on psychedelic
elements in a way that sounds decidedly fresh, the dreamlike atmospheres feel oddly
nostalgic and modern at the same time.
The pair are backed on most tracks by band members Francesco ‘Pearz’ Perini – whose
piano and organs shine through gloriously on ‘Koalas’ and ‘California’s Dreaming’
respectively – and Marco Ninni, who provides the solid backbone throughout on drums.
From a vocal perspective, it feels like Parks pushes her voice to new heights on this album
too. Her lyrics are sharp, ever-present, and imbued with strength, depth, and poetic purpose,
which shine particularly bright on tracks like ‘Koalas’ and ‘Charlie Potato’. They weave
through her flurries of beautiful melodic hooks, featuring sublime choruses and complex,
multi-layered harmonic structures, as showcased on ‘Crown Shy’ and ‘Bagpipe Blues’
especially.
On Pomegranate there are also plenty of new experiments and guests introduced. ‘Koalas’,
for example, features the spellbinding whistling of Molly Lewis, lending a bittersweet
Morricone-esque charm. ‘Crown Shy’ features soaring strings (arranged by Ninni and played
by Joe Butler), and ‘Bagpipe Blues’ and ‘Charlie Potato’ are elevated by Kira Krempova’s
ethereal flute playing – the latter also accompanied with Wurlitzer piano played by Oscar
‘SHOLTO’ Robertson. The euphoric ‘Running Home To Sing’ and album-closer ‘Surround’
centre the synthesiser for the first time, whilst the piano features more prominently across
many of the tracks.

Vinyl release of Tess Parks - Pomegranate (Yellow Lp). Released through FUZZ CLUB and available on LP.