Parsley Sound

Having first hit the radar screens back in 1999 with the sublime Twilight Mushrooms EP on Warp (released under their previous guise, Slum), they’re now finally ready to deliver their debut album, Parsley Sounds. And though it’s been a while coming, trust us, it has been well worth the wait.

Hidden behind walls of sound and tape hiss, Parsley Sound are convinced they make mainstream pop music. To a large extent, they’re right. To us, the Parsley’s music is pop captured at its most impure. It’s infectious, melodic, direct and comes in waves of vivid and spirited emotions. Each of the eleven tracks that make up the album are subtle yet immediate and deceptively well-crafted; the warmth is certainly there for all to hear - as the Update once said, “You can almost feel the sun on your neck.”

Both were happily scratching out a living, playing in obscure pubs north of Watford when they first met. Preston was witness to Danny playing “blistering” sax despite standing crooked on crutches (having had a skiing accident earlier that week) at an all night jam in a squat in Camden in the early-Nineties and instantly knew that Danny would be good to make music with. It was by sheer coincidence then that Parsley Sound actually happened as soon after, they lost touch as Danny went off touring in other peoples bands (including Björk and Bryan Ferry) while Preston started to concentrate on production work and discovering the joys and pains of songwriting. Their paths did, however, cross later on and it was then that the band was born.

As already mentioned, their first release came out on Warp, and it wasn’t long after that James Lavelle decided to step in and sign them up to Mo’ Wax. From there, two limited edition singles have followed, Ease Yourself and Glide (2001) and Platonic Rate (2002), to a critical welcoming. Some of the tracks from these first three releases can be found on Parsley Sounds (see discography below) as well as a clutch of brand new recordings.