Jeremy Parsons’ new EP Life is a quietly highly effective meditation on survival, reminiscence, and function. In simply 5 songs, Parsons manages to distill the chaos and confusion of the pandemic years right into a lyrical dialog that feels each deeply private and universally resonant. His present lies in turning plain speech into poetry—not the form of poetry that calls for consideration, however the variety that slips into the listener’s bones and lingers.
The opening monitor, “Tickin’,” serves as a thesis. Time is a continuing presence, each companion and adversary. Parsons sings of the clock on the wall with a matter-of-fact tone, by no means melodramatic, however insistent sufficient to remind us that none of us can outrun it. The lyric “It’s not wasted when you select to be taught” is a quiet revelation, encapsulating his worldview: errors and detours can nonetheless yield that means if we’re keen to see them as classes. This means to search out knowledge within the strange is considered one of Parsons’ best strengths.
“The Backyard” gives a picture as previous as scripture and as intimate as household. Parsons grew up the son of a horticulturist, and that lived expertise infuses the lyric with authenticity. He asks: “What’s rising there in your backyard? / Does it wither once you’re feeling blue?” The query is light, nearly pastoral, nevertheless it cuts to the center of human resilience. Development, he reminds us, isn’t nearly exterior circumstances—it’s about how we nurture our inside lives. The repeated line “I hope meaning you might be too” turns into not solely a chorus, however a prayer of encouragement.
The EP’s most autobiographical second comes with “Who Was I.” Right here Parsons holds a mirror to his youthful self: 25 years previous, stressed, excessive, unsure, measuring himself towards the benchmarks of his mother and father’ era. “Generally I ponder who’s chasing who, me or the dream” captures the precariousness of ambition, its means to maintain and to wound. He doesn’t romanticize these years—he merely tells the reality. The facility of this music lies in its honesty, and in its refusal to edit the previous into one thing extra flattering.
“Humanity” broadens the scope, shifting from private reflection to social critique. Parsons observes a world in battle, the place voices shout previous each other and empathy appears in brief provide. “I noticed that humanity was dying inside them / With no plan to avoid wasting them from themselves” is a stark lyric, but the music resists cynicism. As a substitute, Parsons frames the issue as a alternative—reminding us, by means of his phrases, that compassion is rarely out of attain.
The closing monitor, “Life Price Dyin’ For,” ties the report along with grace and conviction. It’s Parsons’ declaration of gratitude for a life lived totally: with love, laughter, failure, and renewal. The refrain—“Oh I lived a life price dying for”—isn’t boastful, however humble, an providing of contentment. It leaves the listener with a way of closure, not just for the EP however for the chapter of life that impressed it.
With Life, Jeremy Parsons has crafted a piece that seems like a diary left open for anybody to learn. The lyrics are unadorned, however their sincerity is their energy. That is music that doesn’t demand to be heard a lot because it invitations you to take a seat with it, replicate, and maybe, within the course of, higher perceive your personal journey.
–Annie Morrison
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