Melbourne four-piece Parsnip announce details of Behold; their new album, set to be released April 26 on Upset The Rhythm.
Today, they share first single ‘The Light’; a playful, poetic, propulsive DIY punk song with rhythm guitars reminiscent of The B52s and a Music Machine fuzz solo.
Band member Carolyn Hawkins had this to say about the new song: “‘The Light’ is about having the wool removed from your eyes and seeing everything as it really is, blindingly clear, for the first time. I was thinking a lot about the transformative power of anger in grief and healing, and I guess I also just wanted to express how I was feeling. Rage always produces the catchiest songs.
“I was inspired by the Rumi quote “The wound is where the light enters you”, as well as Leonard Cohen’s ‘Paper Thin Hotel’, which describes the experience of hearing an ex sleeping with someone else in the next room, and his liberation at realising he no longer feels anything. I also included a little interlude that rips off ‘Nervous Breakdown’ by Black Flag, because that felt relevant too.”
Behold is Parsnip’s second album and their first for Upset The Rhythm; just over half an hour of absurd, understated energy. Inspired by The Field Mice, The Raincoats, The Troggs and The Kinks – as well as friends and labelmates Terry and Primo – it explores themes of loneliness, longing, the unknown and the mundane, and making a romantic spectacle of the everyday.
Behold:
- Monument
- The Light
- Duality
- L.O.N.E.
- Placeholder
- Pockets
- Unearthing
- The Babble
- Turn To Love
- Clear Blue Sky
- Swan Song
- Papier-Mâché
- Kutastha
