A REVIEW

If you have ever had the pleasure of spending any time talking to Ben from Shindig Magazine and Pyscharella Records – you will know that he is pretty much an oracle when it comes to music – and is subsequently a wonderful reference point for any new music from London and beyond that finds itself nestled somewhere between The Stones, The Kinks, T-Rex – or anyone else who was doing anything of any note in the 60 and 70’s. 

The fact that Michael Parrett finds himself endorsed by musical luminaries such as Ben speaks volumes about just how highly regarded the young man is. 

Though ‘Influence This’ is Michael’s debut album – he is of course no stranger to success himself having previously fronted Camden based band The Munroes, an outfit who shared the stage and the limelight at places such as The HMV Forum with contemporaries such The Libertines. 

After a while it would seem that the lure of the 60’s and 70’s and it’s psychedelic flavour was just too much for Parrett to resist – after drinking his own brand of Kool Aid very early on in his guitar playing career – in the shape of musical influence The Brian Jones Town Massacre – (that’s a fucking awesome line by the way).

After being in bands previously – the shackles have now been well and truly cast off for Michael as a solo artist – and his debut album is the collective result of an honest and fearless look at himself as an artist, at the type of music he wants to write and the kind of songs that he wants to create and produce. 

With a groundswell of early support on the London pysch-pop scene, Michael will be hoping his forthcoming album will cement his place as one of the London music scenes Ones to Watch this year. 

If the debut single is anything to go by – and 70’s Glam is your thing – you could do a lot worse than to search out ‘Television’ – if only to appreciate the brilliant craftsmanship of it’s call to arms chorus. When any artist pours their heart and soul into a project, and shows the level of commitment, hard work and determination required to encapsulate and catalogue an entire album of their work – it should be commended – when the project is an entirely self-funded labour of love then even more so. 

If we can appreciate new music that has it’s roots set back in the 60’s – then maybe we should look to some of the philosophies from that time too …and so with that in mind, why not show ‘Influence This’ out on the 01.05.2020 some ‘free love’ baby. Peace x

Review written by Bobby Smith

all photos courtesy of artist management Wild45