Pomegranate. Tess Parks

Pomegranate's extremely colourful cover art is a big change from the sober black photograph on the front of  Tess Parks' previous album 'And Those Who Were Seen Dancing' from 2022. Does the music underscore this colourful change as well?

That answer is yes. Of course, Tess Parks' voice is what it is and certainly in the way she chooses to sing. It is like she's singing from under a tombstone. It's a combination of her style of singing and the tone of her voice. It is what it is.

Musically, I would say that the sun is sort of shining on Tess Parks' universe. The Canadian singer delved into musical history and landed somewhere in the 1960s and its psychedelia. There's quite some tripping going on on Pomegranate. Lava lamps and fluid projections can be taken out of storage to accompany the album when playing it.

That is only half of the story though. Many of the songs have an undercurrent that goes beyond the moody voice. There are sparks flying around in the music. In the guitar parts, the bright piano notes, the mellotron and all sorts of assorted tones, there's even whistling going on ('Koalas'). It makes for interesting listening and adds to the music as I knew it so far.

Erwin Zijleman is the real expert, as he already wrote on the singer in 2014 and after on this blog, where I only learned of Tess Parks through her previous album. For me Pomegranate is a positive step forward, as the music is just that. She worked again with producer Ruari Meehan. They let in so much more adventure and sounds that enriches this album no little. Take 'Charlie Potato'. Parks speak-sings in a whispering way and around her everything becomes like the drugs scene in 'Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas '. Nothing is what it seems, with wafts of flute coming by and music that seems to be dragged out beyond possible boundaries, like oil in a heated pan. It's so weird, yet so beautiful.

1960s drugs inspired music is all over Pomegranate. Does the term psychpop exist? If it doesn't it should be invented, just like psychballad. Tess Parks' voice may be an acquired taste, this music is not. In combination it lifts Pomegranate up into spheres where I did not expect to ever find a Tess Parks record. With songs like 'Bagpipe Blues' and 'California's Dreaming' the album opens like a dream and keeps that level up with ease. Groovy, baby. Far out!

Wout de Natris - van der Borght

You can listen to and order Pomegranate here:

https://tessparks.bandcamp.com/album/pomegranate