BRYON MIGHTY: A brilliant Bryon Parker EP

Straying from the same imaginary farm of acoustic songwriting studs such as Damien Rice, David Gray, Jeffrey Lewis and Kings of Convenience, Bryon Parker’s unpredictable 2-track EP intrigues and enthrals from the outset. We’re quickly driven to daydreams of an LP and of the magic and menace with which it would surely mesmerise; because of its restraint, Bryon Parker‘s understated brilliance is nothing short of wondrous.

‘Razor‘s Edge’ gets this release right up in your face and pleasingly, we’re drawn into a tale of war-torn and time-worn togetherness as textural, lyric-born imagery leads us to contemplate the twisted fate of our two protagonists. Amidst the off-kilter production, the simplistic fragility of a straight-laced, vaguely sentimental vocal is every bit as secure as it is askew.  

You‘d be forgiven for thinking the track is taken from the TV advert of any given building society or similar do-good enterprise, but as the title suggests, I suspect the ambiguous serenity conceals monsters aplenty. Perhaps owing to it’s lo-fi dynamism, it‘s also startling to learn of the track‘s six minute duration.

Unsuspectingly drawing us into a chaotic, short-lived crescendo and hinting at an overabundance of personal imperfection or selfish, snowblind shenanigans, patiently paced ‘Fever Dream Death Kiss’ paints a placid, pretty picture that’s awash with rhythmic repetition. We’re sharply shaken from the our trance state however, as the track ends in a fiery haze of indifference and blind optimism

This softly spoken statement serves up a shedload of skewered and strange loose ends, with each screaming out to be tied up, amidst the joyful misdirection and muted misery that solidifies the essence of Bryon Parker’s marvellous music. 

The Bryon Parker EP is released on VanGerret Records April 1^st 2023.