Newcomer to the scene John Parry releases his new 4 track self titled EP. Although as yet unsigned, there is some buzz about this East Londoner who is earning his stripes playing on the live scene and this reinforced by his EP launch party being at a pop up shop gig.
With a plaintive lugubrious voice, the tone of the 4 tracks on show here is laid back and mainly acoustic, but don’t be fooled because this guy has a cutting edge lyrically.
Awkward kicks off the EP....”I’m not your typically type” “I’m not someone you look twice at on the street” “Im just a very very very very awkward person to meet”. Very honest autobiographical start to the EP, which I can only assume was a cathartic process he had to get out.
Second track Do is a not so subtle ode to love and lust “take off your dress you’ve already impressed”. This is a late night slow burner of a song, but maybe not a song to attempt to find a partner “All I want to do is her”.....lets not forget though that Parry is only 18.
Highlight song for me is Enough, and this feels like a more fully formed song, and closest comparison would be Ben Howard, and again a song filled with angst “I’ve had enough, of doing what you want me to”
Closer, What Have I Done features an electric guitar break which hints at some depth and another dimension to the overall sound, but ultimately is again another lovely laid back arrangement.
This is highly impressive music from a teenager, and sounding like a cockney version of the aforementioned Howard, there’s no reason why Parry’s career couldn’t similarly take off.
7/11
Keith
