What is immediately apparent listening to ‘Pomegranate’ is that while it oozes optimistic sentiments, the album comes from a place of fragility and trauma. It sees Tess Parks working with long-term band member and close collaborator, Ruari Meehan, on a record with a substantially expanded musical palette in comparison to her previous album, ‘And Those Who Were Seen Dancing’. While the psych pop roots of someone best known for her collaborations with The Brian Jonestown Massacre’s Anton Newcombe are in evidence, the canvas now includes pianos, synths and strings to create a sound that is understated but luxurious.
The initial steps for the album came from Meehan sending Parks the music to ‘Koalas’ (which appears third on the album’s running order) in November 2020. At the time, she was suffering from a severe case of PTSD and felt incapable of listening to the song properly. Once she did months later, lyrics were added and the process of writing an album was instigated. There is a slightly country feel to the song’s acoustic guitar and piano which gives it a wistful air with its urge to be cured and reverse the Big Bang alongside its conditional refrain of “maybe I should be dancing.” Molly Lewis heightens the atmosphere with some eerie whistling.
Elsewhere, the record begins with the gently seductive ‘Bagpipe Blues’ unfurling from its organ hum, backward masking and Parks’ semi-narcoleptic drawl while Kira Krempova’s fluttering flute adds a sprinkling of magic dust. A hymn to acceptance and positivity in its resolve to “try to see everything as a goddamn miracle”, a mood continued into its final line (“I woke up today knowing I’m not going to change the world and I feel fine.”)
Despite its references to being a family and believing in God, ‘California’s Dreaming’ feels more disenchanted with its line that “this California dream is a fucking lie”. With Francesco Perini’s mellotron and Farfisa organs rotating around psychedelic guitars, it has a lazy anthemic quality.
Building from a strummed guitar before being opened out by piano and circling guitars, ‘Lemon Poppy’ has an air of bruised hedonism to its tale of drinking and smoking and what initially feels like a glib couplet, “Life is perfect yeah it’s awesome / Paint it gold now like your coffin.” That mood and its dangers can perhaps be explained by the explanation about ‘Crown Shy’ which is Parks’ thank you to her family, and especially her sister, for aiding her sobriety from alcohol, hence the “you saved my life” line. The song also reflects the wider sense of all the world being related and the possibilities that come from recognising our commonalities. With Joe Butler’s strings providing an extra texture to the song, alongside the multi-layered but relaxed harmonies, it is a stand-out moment.
The excellently titled ‘Charlie Potato’ sees Parks speaking the narrative. Without a vocal melody, it is more reliant on the track’s instrumentation (Wurlitzer, flute, Tingsha bells) and its overall jazzy vibe to create its mood, alongside its tale that despite featuring a thief in disguise as a ringleader has an air of positivity with everyone walking, smiling, exploring new earth with a golden opportunity to dream.
On the synth led ‘Running Home To Sing’, the sentiments are confident and optimistic “I am not afraid / I am very brave…Don’t be someone who isn’t kind / You have to laugh” but are delivered without any of the boldness that might usually be associated with such words. The understated aura that suggests Parks is trying to convince herself adds nuance to the song.
‘Sunnyside’ has a beguiling guitar melody, the complex emotions summarised in the line, “A happy death until I die”, reflecting how her songs grapple with our finite nature and a renewed determination to maximise each day’s potential. Closing track, ‘Surround’, maintains the mood. A lightly buoyant synth line accompanies her reflection that “whatever’s broken is now fixed” and instruction to “find someone who loves life as much as you.”
Though ‘Pomegranate’ is even paced and not the most vocally dynamic of releases, its songs are of a consistently high standard and there is plenty of musical variety to maintain interest in its dreamy state, let alone be lifted by its optimistic outlook.
Tess Parks: Pomegranate – Out 25 October 2024 (Fuzz Club)
Parks – Crown Shy (Official Video) (youtube.com)
I was editor of the long-running fanzine, Plane Truth, and have subsequently written for a number of publications. While the zine was known for championing the most angular independent sounds, performing in recent years with a community samba percussion band helped to broaden my tastes so that in 2021 I am far more likely to be celebrating an eclectic mix of sounds and enthusing about Made Kuti, Anthony Joseph, Little Simz and the Soul Jazz Cuban compilations as well as Pom Poko and Richard Dawson.
