Just Listen: A Festival, A Parade – People Person
A Festival, A Parade
Words: Gary Feeney
Photo: Daniel Stark
The first release in a while from Newcastle band A Festival, A Parade, People Person is a bit of an usual song. Opening with a brooding vocal from Joe Allan, it’s the kind of song in which seems to turn in different directions several times throughout, and even after multiple listens, you’re still not quite sure where it’s going. Sometimes that’d be a bad thing, but here it’s a testament to the intricacy and skill of the musical structure which Allan has conjured – there are moments of gentle melody, moments when the band bursts to life and others when Allan’s vocal melody and the synth line sound just a little bit strangely-formed or discordant, and the effect is captivating.
With the lyrics tackling the tricky subject of mental health problems, it seems that the musical unpredictability and moments that sound ever-so-slightly out-of-place are intended to act as musical representations of with the subject matter – rather an impressive piece of song-writing, and a rather impressive song as an introduction to A Festival, A Parade.
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19 Feb – The Cluny, Newcastle
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