Philip Parfitt - The Dark Light

by Denzil Watson

published: 29 / 10 / 2024

Label: Tip Top Recordings
Format: CD

intro

Melancholic and acoustic fourth solo album from ex=Perfect Disaster frontman Philip Parfitt.

After years in the musical wilderness, ex-Perfect Disaster frontman Phil Parfitt reappeared out of nowhere (Okay, the depths of the French countryside!) back in 2014 to release his debut solo album, ‘I’m Not the Man I Used to Be’. As reflective and melancholic as the title hinted at, it captured the gentle and fragile nature of the human condition perfectly. Six years later, ‘Mental Home Recordings’ saw Parfitt growing in confidence while exploring similar themes and posing similar questions to those he explored on his debut, albeit in a slightly more direct manner and with an expanded sound, including the glorious second single, the cinematic ‘All Fucked Up’. Four years on from his last offering, we come to his third solo album, ‘Dark Light’. While the feel of the album is still very much in the vein of acoustic folk, reminiscent of Nick Drake and Leonard Cohen, he mines from a wider sonic envelope and range of instrumentation to good effect, which sees him moving seamlessly into the areas of both neo-psychedelia and jazz. The initial opening lilt of ‘I Know I Shouldn’t, But Voices/ could quite easily have been one of the gentler moments on The Perfect Disaster’s final album, ‘Heaven Scent’. On ‘Black Widow’, Parfitt utilises his world-weary voice to good effect on its spoken word chorus, before the song rises into the brass-driven chorus. The gentle melodies of ‘A Little Longer’ has a feel-good vibe to it that showcases Parfitt’s penchant for a bit of a whistle. The more introspective ‘Look Inside’ is the second of a number of tracks that use brass to good effect to set the mood (think Lou Reed’s ‘Berlin”’LP), as the song envelopes you in that lazy-hazy sunny Sunday afternoon feeling, as it does on the acoustic strum of ‘Broken’ The deeply personal ‘In Every Thought’ is one of the album’s most melancholic and beautiful moments, while on ‘29,000 Raindrops (In the Forest of My Heart)’ Parfitt returns to spoken word to good effect and a track that epitomises Parfitt’s song smithery and deep connection with the natural world. ‘Let’s Build a Bridge” is another life-affirming track with its ‘Let’s make a love, no one can break’ line. Penultimate track, ‘Too Little Too Late”, like the album’s opening gambit, again draws on Patfitt’s former band in its directness and is my pick from the album overall. Album closer, title track “Dark Light’,, was co-written with Lucie’Robet who also features on vocal duties here. It’s a longer ‘mood’ piece that effortlessly returns to the album’s main vibe of reflection and introspect, underpinned by a strong sense of optimism for the future. While Philip Parfitt’s dream-like melancholic acoustic endeavours may seem far away from his earlier post-Velvets dual-guitar assault in The Perfect Disaster and may not be to everyone’s musical smorgasbord, these ten beautiful and lovingly-crafted tracks deep from within his soul merit your attention and show just how he’s has grown and matured as a song-writer (and producer) while providing the perfect antidote to the constant assault of over-produced, over-hyped and verbose music that seems to dominate currently times.

Track Listing:-

1 I know I shouldn't, but voices
2 Black widow.
3 A little longer.
4 Look inside
5 Broken
6 In every thought.
7 29000 Raindrops (In the forest of my heart).
8 Let's build a bridg
9 Too little too late.
10 Dark light
11 Look inside (alternate version

Band Links:-

https://www.facebook.com/p.mused.on/
https://twitter.com/philipjparfitt
https://philipparfitt.bandcamp.com

Play in YouTube:-

Have a Listen:-

interviews

Interview Part 2 (2021)

In the second part of his in-depth interview with ex-Perfect Disaster frontman Philip Parfitt, Denzil Watson speaks to him about his influences and new solo album, ‘Mental Home Recordings’.

Interview Part 1 (2021)