Paraglow is the second collaboration project between the band Parannoul and the singer/songwriter Asian Glow. My experience with these artists is very short but so far very positive – I loved Parannoul’s album that they released last year „To See the Next Part of the Dream“ which was if I recall correctly my second or third most favorite album of that year – the almost magical blend of shoegazy guitars and colorful synths and soundscapes made for what was probably the most beautiful-sounding album of that year, at least for me anyways – now for Asian Glow I first heard about her through her first collaboration album with the band (also with Sonhos Tomam Conta on board) on their album also released last year „Downfall of the Neon Youth“ which I did enjoy but thought that it lacked some of the more catchier moments that Parannoul provided on their solo album. But now they’re back with just the two of them this time around and I gotta say, this one kind of blew my expectations out of the water – it’s not perfect, there are still a few nitpicks I have with it, but I’ll get to all that in a bit.
The EP consists of only 4 tracks however they all pack such an incredible punch (especially one of them) that it more than makes up for it – the first of which being the opener „Hand“ and man does this song have hands. I absolutely love the accoustic guitar on this, it’s just mixed so well, it’s like heaven to my ears and the rest of the instrumentation kicks ass too – the drums are super sharp and over the top (as always) and create this super washed out crazy shoegazy vibe that is only amplified by the electric guitars which once again are just stellar on all of the songs here. What really sells this one though are the synths and especially how they play of the rest of the instrumentation, it just mixes together super effortlessly and the chords constantly keep switching between absolutely gorgeous and kind of spooky, it makes you feel all sorts of things. The singing is also very on point, these guys just have amazing chemistry with each other. Anyways next up we have the song „The Light Side of the Eyes“ that starts of with these mezmerizing keys with just simple drums and really burried strings that create an amazing haunting atmosphere that gets completely just thrown out the window once the rest of the instrumentation kicks in, it’s like a musical punch in the face. Honestly after that though the song starts to drag on a bit, there just aren’t enough intresting ideas in this one I feel like – it starts picking up again towards the end with some seriously impecable harmonizing that I just wish they stretched out a bit longer – I also like the random pauses on the guitar riffs on this one, it keeps the song feeling more fresh and also obviously the outro is just mad on this one, like when I say they go off I mean they go OFF. Well after that comes „Swamp“ that starts with these absolutely beautiful piano keys that once again get cut off by the walls of guitars and drums that come in, however this song does it much more seemlessly than the last one and it feels more natural rather than like an interuption – then once those fade out you’re left with just a few strings that slowly die down too. This one’s pretty short and to the point but it doesn’t leave much of an impact, however it’s runtime justifies that, it’s still a nice addition overall just not as impressive one as let’s say the opener. What is that and even more impressive than that is the fricking 15 AND A HALF MINUTES LONG closer „Wheel“, that is somehow even more epic than it sounds. The song starts off similarly to the first one with just a somber accoustic guitars, some gentle electric guiar licks and a few horns actually, it honestly gives off pretty strong Black Country, New Road vibes. After that the song undergoes many many different phases that all sound better than the previous one, it just constantly keeps throwing new ideas at you and somehow they all just work – they really saved the best for last with this one. The repeated chorus in like the first major section is just so goddamn infectious, the way it’s sung sounds like something Kurt Cobain would have done back in the day, it’s so raw and passionate. The second big section after the build up between the two features some god-like keys and burried melodies, this song really demands your close attention, but the details are so worth it, this song is just so layered and textured, it’s very impressive the ammount of attention to detail here. I also love the weird switch where at first you think the song ends but then comes back again in the most weird way possible with these keys, orchestral strings and weird effects that blend together surprisingly well – then it builds again into what is essentially the climax of the song and yeah this thing just sounds so larger than life it’s insane. This song is easily the best of the album and all the others honestly just feel like a build up to this one.
So there you go, that’s basically Paraglow for you, a beautiful, masterfully crafted project between two amazing artist that have insane chemistry with each other. This is honestly my front-runner for the EP of the year so far and I doubt something will manage to top it off.
Decent 8/10