Courtesy: Wiretap Records
Independent rock super group In Parallel will release its debut EP Fashioner Friday. Its release tomorrow will less than two months after the band debuted the EP’s lead single ‘Leave It With The Ghost’ and its companion video. Why the band — Lance Black, Jesse Fine, Ryan Parrish, and Mark Nash – decided on such a tight time frame is anyone’s guess. That aside, the EP is still well worth hearing. That is proven in part through the EP’s lead single ‘Leave It With The Ghost.’ It will be discussed shortly. The EP’s second single, ‘Deep Dark,’ is another way in which the record shows is strength. It will be addressed a little later. The EP’s opener, ‘Six Over Eight’ is one more way in which the record proves itself such an interesting offering. It will also be discussed later. When it is considered along with ‘Deep Dark,’ ‘Leave It With The Ghost’ and the other two songs included in the record, Fashioner proves in whole to be a strong start for In Parallel.
In Parallel’s debut EP Fashioner is a positive first outing for the independent rock super group. That is due to its musical arrangements and insightful lyrical themes. The EP’s lead single ‘Leave It With The Ghost’ is one of the songs that serves to support the noted statements. The song’s subtle, plodding musical arrangement, with its brooding guitar line, is eerily reminiscent of Nine Inch Nails’ ‘The Day The World Went Away’ throughout its verses. Even as the song progresses, its arrangement changes slightly, but still boasts a certain similarity especially to the noted composition and other songs featured on Nine Inch Nails’ 1999 album The Fragile. The song’s musical arrangement is just one part of what makes the work in whole stand out. Its lyrical theme plays its own important part to its whole.
The song’s lyrical theme infers a message of hope, right from its lead verse, which states, “Minds play old tapes/We’ll never be the same/Leave it with the ghost/Limbs bend/Bones sweat/We aren’t broken yet/Leave it with the ghost.” Those two short, simple lines seem to send a message that we as people need to leave the past in the past, considering ghosts are associated with the past, in literary senses. The song’s second verse, which states, “Dead weight/Light fades/Released and blown away/Leave it with the Ghost/Dark steps press down/Leading us underground/Leave it with the ghost/leave it where the ghost waists,” points even more toward that message of hope. That mention of dead weight and light fading could be a literary reference to, again, the past. Dead weight is something that needs to be released. The fading light is another allusion to something in the past, like fading memories. The song’s third verse follows in similar lyrical fashion as that of the song’s lead and second verse. When this seeming message of hope juxtaposes the song’s brooding musical arrangement, the whole of those elements makes for a highly impactful work that also shows in its own way why this record is worth hearing. It clocks in at nearly eight minutes and 30 seconds, but is so richly engaging that it will not leave listeners checking the time. It is just one of the EP’s most notable songs. The record’s second single, Deep Dark’ is another way in which the record stands out among this year’s field of new EPs.
The musical arrangement featured in ‘Deep Dark’ is distinct from that of ‘Leave It With The Ghost.’ It presents a distinct influence from The Cure, unlike the Nine Inch Nails-esque vibe of ‘Leave It With The Ghost. Itonically, The Cure is in fact one of the bands that influenced Nine Inch Nails founder Trent Rezor early on, so even with the distinct stylistic difference here from ‘Leave It With The Ghost,’ and the EP’s other songs, a certain subtle similarity is there. The “airy” nature of the vocal delivery style joins with the steady yet subtle time keeping, guitars, bass and keyboards to make the song yet another work that does so much with so little in its stylistic approach. It is just one part of what makes the song stand out. The song’s lyrical theme does its own part to make the composition stand out.
Band member Lance Black said in a recent interview that the song’s lyrical theme “deals with the overwhelming feeling of depression and the codependency that often comes with it. Its chorus concludes that we are complex human beings living in a world with little tolerance for mistakes or flaws: ‘We’re the sum of the ocean and its deepest parts. Where it ends, and where it starts. We’ve asked for nothing, but you understand what a perfect world demands.” Black’s statement is illustrated from the song’s outset in its lead verse, which states, “The fog we’re in/It welcomes us in/Deep dark/It pulls us down/The calm before the sound/And here it comes…” Black’s comments are further in the song’s second verse, which reads, “We won’t stop until we get ours/Until the dirt won’t come off/We don’t know how to/We don’t care how we get there/Until the last leaf falls off/We don’t know how to stop the fall/The end is right where it began/Deep dark, it knows our skin/It raises if we let it in/And here it comes…” This content is deep, needless to say. The discussions that it is certain to generate joins with the equally strong impact of the song’s lyrical content to make the song in whole another impressive addition to Fashioner. It is just one more of the EP’s most notable songs, too. ‘Six Over Eight,’ which opens the EP, is one more way in which Fashioner proves its places among this year’s field of new EPs.
The musical arrangement featured in ‘Six Over Eight’ bears its own unique identity that is separate from any of the EP’s other arrangements. The song’s ethereal approach is so powerful in its subtlety. It is very much a work that will appeal to fans of the shoegazer genre, yet is so powerful that even fans of other genres will find it strangely appealing. One actually could argue that there is an influence from The Cure in this song, too. From the echoes used in the vocal delivery and the drums, to the subtle, flowing guitar and bass lines, the song’s arrangement presents such a distinct impact. It makes for a strong opener for the EP, and is just one part of what makes the song stand out. It couples with the song’s lyrical content to make the song stand out even more.
The song’s lyrical content comes across as being very introspective. It in fact seems to be the thought pattern of someone who has become cynical about what has happened to the world. This is inferred in the song’s lead verse, which states, “Where’s the peace of mind/Where’s a piece of anything we want/What were we instructed to do/Where’s the peace the world hasn’t gifted to you/You’ll find a way if there’s another way.” It is a very emo-style lyrical approach. That seeming cynicism continues in the song’s second verse, which reads, “Maybe there’s a plan/Maybe there’s a lot you won’t do/Careful, there’s a victim in you/How’re they gonna know/How’s it gonna feel when they do/Everyone’s an imposter too/The ringing never leaves you but the noise will get you through/Maybe there’s a plan but it hasn’t included you/You want it to, I know you want it to.” The song’s chorus seems to give a slightly different take on things and maybe a slight change in viewpoint on the matter. It reads, “Six over eight and wasting away/It’s just human nature, we feel it that way/Turns that we’ll take will lead to mistakes/They’ll be there tomorrow/There’s so much at stake.” That last note that “there’s so much at stake” seems to hint that for all of the cynicism, we have to remember that we can’t let that negative mindset get to us. That is of course just this critic’s own interpretation. Hopefully it is somewhere in the proverbial ballpark. Regardless, the depth in this content is just as certain to engage listeners as that in the EP’s other songs. When it is considered along with the depth of the song’s musical arrangement, the whole of the work leaves no doubt as to its part in the bigger picture of Fashioner. When it is considered along with ‘Leave It With The Ghost,’ ‘Deep Dark,’ ‘Fashioner (No Exit),’ and ‘Threat of Heaven,’ all five songs make the EP in whole its own unique presentation that is a successful first offering from In Parallel.
In Parallel’s debut EP Fashioner is a strong first offering from the band. That is proven through the record’s musical and lyrical content, as noted here. From the rich musical atmospheres to the engaging lyrical themes, the record in whole proves well worth the listen.
More information on In Parallel’s new single is available along with all of the band’s latest news at:
Website: http://www.inparallelband.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/inparallelband
Twitter: http://twitter.com/inparallelband
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