The Parson Red Heads
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Blurred Harmony / Blurred Harmony Expanded Edition
Blurred Harmony is the overdriven jangle of Teenage Fanclub and Big Star power-pop, the skewed psychedelics of the Paisley Underground, the bittersweet energy of New Zealand’s “Dunedin Sound” movement, and the muted twang of Cosmic Americana, all crammed into 44 minutes. It is an album that displays what The Parson Red Heads learned and internalized over the past 13 years as an active band, constantly growing, shifting, and evolving. It is an album that isn’t just about the past, looking back over our lives, relationships, and experiences: it is an album driven and created by all of those relationships, those experiences, and it wouldn’t exist without them.
Upon the album’s release (June 9. 2017), Paste Magazine gave the record an “8.9/10” rating, and included it in their 5 Best Albums of June.
On December 8, Fluff and Gravy Records will be be releasing an expanded version of the Blurred Harmony, featuring 2 bonus tracks (TV Surprise and It’s Hard For Me To Say) that didn’t seem to quite fit with the rest of the record.
Here is how frontman, Evan Way, describes the bonus material
“TV Surprise” is a song that’s been around for probably 10 years at least, maybe more. It’s got a real Felt / Feelies vibe to it that I really like – those are two bands that we were just starting to get into around the time I wrote the song, so it’s no surprise that was coming through. The abstract feel of the lyrics is the thing that ended up making it not a perfect fit for inclusion on the Blurred Harmony album sequence, but Danny (O’Hanlon, who mixed the record), did a really great job creatively mixing the song – he added a lot of the textures that make this recording of the song have such a cool atmosphere and mood. Fun fact – the ambient sound drone that opens the song is a combination of a Casio Keyboard, vacuum cleaner, bass guitar, and my 5 year old son George recorded into my Tascam 4-tracker and slowed down.
A version of “It’s Hard For Me To Say” was originally recorded in December 2015, for inclusion on You Are The Cosmos’ legendary 12-string guitar compilation record “Twelve String High”. After we sat with the finished track for awhile, and as we began to record Blurred Harmony, we felt like we could do a re-recording of the song that would fit more with the feel of the album. It ended up not making the final cut – who knows, maybe it’s because we were already too familiar with it, maybe the extra months of the songs recorded existence made it feel less fresh to our ears. But we really love this version – the rhythm section is tighter and more driving, the tambourine and Conrad 12-string electric channels the Byrds through a warped lens, and the three layers of acoustic guitar shimmer just right. Plus, Raymond added some gorgeous pedal steel, and our friend Michael Blake (who plays keys on the rest of the album, as well) added a wall of mellotron and wurlitzer – though the actual arrangement of the song doesn’t really stray from the original recording, the final vibe is quite different.
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The Parson Red Heads – Blurred Harmony (Expanded Edition)
1. Please Come Save Me (4:39)
2. Coming Down (4:54)
3. Time After Time (5:07)
4. Answer Twice (0:56)
5. Sunday Song (5:16)
6. What Have I Become (3:50)
7. Terrible Lie (4:03)
8. Time Is A Wheel (4:36)
9. Today Is The Day (2:07)
10. Waiting For The Call (2:12)
11. Out of Range (1:56)
12. In A Dream (2:59)
13. Nostalgia Of The Lakefronts (4:59)
14. BONUS TRACK – TV Surprise (4:55)
15. BONUS TRACK – It’s Hard For Me To Say (3:37)
Produced and Engineered by Sam Fowles
Additional Production by Danny O’Hanlon, Evan Way
Additional Engineering by Raymond Richards
Mixed by Danny O’Hanlon – Bungalow 9
Mastered by Timothy Stollenwerk – Stereophonic Mastering
All songs written by Evan Way (©2017 ASCAP, Evan Thomas Way / Evan Way Publishing)
Except “Out of Range”, written by Sam Fowles (©2017 ASCAP, Son of Roxanne)
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Praise for Blurred Harmony
“Fans of ’70s power-pop, the Paisley Underground, Teenage Fanclub, Fleetwood Mac and the Laurel Canyon sound will fare well here.” BuzzBands LA
“scholars of the back-porch jangle-pop” – Paste
“smart, lucid songwriting and willingness to take skewed stances on established modes of sound is refreshingly blurry, and a fantastic soundtrack to the psychoses of your summery, sunny days.” – Paste
“The four Red Heads’ connection to and affection for each other is almost palpable in their four-part harmonies and graceful guitar lines.” – NPR World Cafe Live “Next”
[youtube height=”HEIGHT” width=”WIDTH”]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ClGxGJWJfk[/youtube]