Tight, polished disco-funk from the Australian upstarts shows adventurous promise.
Hailing from Australia by way of Berlin, Parcels are five schoolmates from Byron Bay who conjure the ‘70s heyday of air travel and holidays in their debut record’s pastel-hued imagery. It’s complemented by an entirely self-produced record of classy, ‘70s-inspired disco-funk, inspired by The Beach Boys, Chic and Steely Dan.
With only a clutch of singles to their name but a tightly-drilled live set, they won over disco titans Daft Punk, who offered to work with them on the spot, and already have a sizeable following having played to a sold-out crowd at Koko, with a date at The Roundhouse in their sights next month.
The crisp hi-hat, polished production and high-register singing often recalls Metronomy’s meticulous arrangements that translate to effortless cool, but there’s a more adventurous spirit lurking among these dozen tracks.
The bright, chic and upbeat disco-funk of Tape and Tieduprightnow are solid enough, but panpipes are dropped into new single Lightenup for a fun, tropical denouement, Withorwithout charms with some sultry, charmingly wonky synth work, and the rattling drum machine of Closetowhy injects a refreshing ‘80s vibe.
The eight-minute Everyroad is most interesting though, segueing from a spoken-word reverie and slinky, spare guitar to dreamy strings before wrapping up with fat, bass-y splodges and pin-prick keys.
3/5
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