Music Reviews

Pure magic.

Look, if you’ve followed this page for a while now you will know that Parannoul is a project that I’ve been passionate about since it’s inception – from their debut album „To See the Next Part of the Dream“ which ranked I think number 3 at my year end list of best albums of 2021 to their colaborations with Asian Glow and their latest full length LP „After the Magic“, Parannoul’s output has been one hit after another. So when I saw that this, an hour and a half long live album with a 40 minute closing track, which also happens to be one of my personal favorite tracks from the band, I knew that this was gonna be something just out of this world. And well I got basically exactly what I expected – nothing could have prepared me for that last track though, that one deserves a whole review in of itself.

Going through this track by track is kinda pointless since all the songs are basically already existing songs just played live, however I will still say a few things about those before I get to the cream of the pie (that being the final track) – first of the song choices are absolutely brilliant here – not a single song on here feels like it shouldn’t have been here, everything flows into each other almost seemlesly and it all feels super lively and vivid, the live setting really brings these songs to new heights. Like the opener „Polaris“ just sounds absolutely beautiful and out of this world and immediately immerses you in this spacey other-worldly atmosphere that never leaves throughout the entire journey that is this album. It is immediately followed by one of my other personal favorite songs from Parannoul „Beautiful World“ that is really brought to exceptional heights here. The pianos are as beautiful as ever here and the guitars just have this extra power to them that the studio recordings are just missing. I think the only song I wasn’t like immediately instantly in love with was the song „Imagination“ not a bad song in any way, it just didn’t grip my ear as instantnly as some of the other songs here and the more I listened to it the more it clicked with me, I just think it’s the only song here without any like instantly recognizable qualities to it, it’s still fantastic and magical while it’s on but I don’t really find myself having this one stuck in my head as often as some of the others.

… Ok well let’s get to the reason I’m actually talking about this project. Don’t get me wrong, all the live songs up to this point have been if not anything else really great and all of them sound spetacular but what the last 40 minute song on this album accomplishes I haven’t heard since maybe the „LONG SEASON“ live song by Fishmans. And yeah If you’ve been on the internet anywhere where this album is discussed this comparison is right about the first thing that gets thrown in your face and even though I do think it’s valid, the emotional connection I get with this song is honestly more than I get with that Fishman’s song. I mean if there ever was to be an 11/10 it would honestly be this song for me, it’s really that good. Not good, it’s just… Unreal. Like I get chills everytime I’m hearing it. It evokes so many feelings at once and I just can’t help but absolutely love it for that. It undergoes so many phases and transitions yet still remains unmastikably itself and I think that’s kind of beautiful. And yes, it requires a lot of patienece but the multiple pay-offs this song has are more than worth it. And the guitars on this oh my GOD the guitars are the reason I wake up in the morning, like there are so many things happening at one but the guitars still stand out as just absolutely insane. Like sitting just through this entire song at once is a JOURNEY. Like legitemately I don’t get an experience like this from many movies and this is just a one song on a live album. The strings towards the end of the song are also just… No I can’t with this song, if you haven’t heard it yet just do yourself the favor of at least once sitting through it, I guarantee you you won’t regret it.

Now here comes the real dilema… Because this album is undoubtedly in my eyes AT LEAST a strong 9/10… BUT do I really think it’s a 10 overall? I mean the last song alone is basically like an 11 but this isn’t just that last song no matter how spectacular that one is… But the more I think about it, this project’s music has just been one of my favorite things I discovered in the last few years throughout the mountains on mountains of new music I discovered and to be perfectly honest, this album feels like the amalgamation of all of that into one cohesive emotionally powerful larger-than-life project that just delivers on all fronts and has literally no duds whatsoever. If that isn’t a 10/10 than I don’t know what is. So with that being said…

-favorite tracks: all, ESPECIALLY Into the Endless Nights

-least favorite tracks: Imagination (IF I HAD TO CHOOSE)

10/10