Tess Parks

Canada-born, London-based singer-songwriter Tess Parks is today revealing "California’s Dreaming", the third and final single to be lifted from the incoming Pomegranate album out October 25th via Fuzz Club. The new single also follows her recent inclusion on the official ‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’ soundtrack with her 2013 track ‘Somedays’.

Now trailed by "California’s Dreaming" and recent singles "Crown Shy" and "Koalas", ‘Pomegranate’ is the follow-up to Parks’ long-awaited solo return after nearly a decade with ‘And Those Who Were Seen Dancing’, which arrived in 2022 to critical acclaim. In support of Pomegranate, Parks and her band will play three intimate record store release shows in London and Brighton.

Written and recorded between London, Toronto and Los Angeles, Pomegranate finds Parks teaming up with long-term bandmember and close collaborator Ruari Meehan, who assumes production duties here and co-mixed the album alongside Grammy-nominated engineer Mikko Gordon (The Smile, Gaz Coombes, Arcade Fire). Where ‘Dancing’ retained a fair measure of bedroom-demo charm, on ‘Pomegranate’ the canvas is bigger, with Meehan’s arrangements stretching all the way to the horizon.

Out today, "California’s Dreaming" is a piece of hypnotic, organ-soaked psych-pop reminiscent of her cult collaborative albums with The Brian Jonestown Massacre’s Anton Newcombe. On the underlying message behind the song, Parks says: “I believe people are innately good and everything that happens and everyone that comes into your life is a great teacher. EVERYBODY LOVE EVERYBODY.”
 

“A confident, enchanting presence” The New York Times 

“Sugary melodies that drone and hypnotize” Bandcamp Daily 

“A rich, vibrant mosaic… Dancing reflects the richness of a whole lifetime” Paste 

“​​And Those Who Were Seen Dancing demands to be heard and felt.” Exclaim! 

“A gifted artist with much to offer.” Under The Radar 

“Deliciously smoky psych-pop” Stereogum

Longing. Heartbreak. Levity. Joy. Being filled with love for all things. All of these sensations flow at once through Canadian singer-songwriter Tess Parks’ new album, Pomegranate. Re-establishing Parks as the consummate artist-observer against a swirling nouveau-delic backdrop, her third solo album arrives on October 25th 2024 (Fuzz Club / Hand Drawn Dracula) and was produced by multi-instrumentalist and close collaborator Ruari Meehan, who shared mixing duties with Grammy-nominated engineer Mikko Gordon (The Smile, Gaz Coombes, Arcade Fire).

Though Tess Parks first became widely known for her string of collaborations with Brian Jonestown Massacre mastermind Anton Newcombe, her 2022 solo offering And Those Who Were Seen Dancing left an unforgettable impression with its signature blend of weight, whimsy, and open-heartedness. Arriving almost a decade after her 2013 debut album Blood Hot, the New York Times would praise its “confident, enchanting presence”, whilst Exclaim! proclaimed it as a record that “demands to be heard and felt”. Where Dancing retained a fair measure of bedroom-demo charm, this time the canvas is bigger, with Meehan’s arrangements stretching all the way to the horizon. This is the most ambitious and cinematic Parks’ music has ever sounded. Drawing on psychedelic elements in a way that sounds decidedly fresh, the dreamlike atmospheres feel oddly nostalgic and modern at the same time.

The pair are backed on most tracks by band members Francesco ‘Pearz’ Perini  – whose piano and organs shine through gloriously on "Koalas" and "California’s Dreaming" respectively – and Marco Ninni, who provides the solid backbone throughout on drums. From a vocal perspective, it feels like Parks pushes her voice to new heights on this album too. Her lyrics are sharp, ever-present, and imbued with strength, depth, and poetic purpose, which shine particularly bright on tracks like "Koalas"  and "Charlie Potato". They weave through her flurries of beautiful melodic hooks, featuring sublime choruses and complex, multi-layered harmonic structures, as showcased on "Crown Shy" and "Bagpipe Blues" especially.

On Pomegranate there are also plenty of new experiments and guests introduced. ‘Koalas’, for example, features the spellbinding whistling of Molly Lewis, lending a bittersweet Morricone-esque charm. "Crown Shy" features soaring strings (arranged by Ninni and played by Joe Butler), and ‘Bagpipe Blues’ and "Charlie Potato" are elevated by Kira Krempova’s ethereal flute playing – the latter also accompanied with Wurlitzer piano played by Oscar 'SHOLTO’ Robertson. The euphoric "Running Home To Sing" and album-closer ‘Surround’ centre the synthesiser for the first time, whilst the piano features more prominently across many of the tracks.

If Dancing was the sound of a personal thawing-out process, Pomegranate tingles with a sense of rejuvenation and resilience. Resilience for highly sensitive souls, however, does not come without scars. And Parks will admit that these songs are covered in bruises. Faded, perhaps, but bruises nonetheless. We all know that pressing one’s thumb against a black and blue bruise until it hurts can feel pleasurable from time to time. Still, the point is that we’re hearing triumph captured in song — not just for Parks, but for the sheer act of seeing music through. Much like with Dancing, it’s a small miracle that Pomegranate got finished at all.

As Parks tells it, "Look - there's so much tragedy happening in the world right now. It's so easy to feel helpless. It feels self-indulgent to be someone singing at all from their own perspective. But if anything, this album is a gift of love, our contribution to the world of something beautiful that we made amongst so much pain. It's our message of empowerment to keep going even when life feels unliveable and unjust - having faith that this moment will pass if you can find a way to just breathe into the next moment. Believing that the future could possibly be really bright... knowing that sharing your light really does have a butterfly effect, even in a small way within your community and your family and friends, you are capable of making a greater impact than you understand."

"I went through a long period of feeling like I never wanted to make music again”, Parks says, “What is the point of singing? Everything is pointless. I was taking refuge making paintings, sitting in silence for hours. There was a lot of processing to do. I am so grateful that I was given the encouragement to continue creating with sound, and that's what Ruari has done for me. It seems only right to give back that encouragement to others.”