Although they've allowed three EPs to drift out into public consciousness over the past few years, London duo Danny Sargassa and Preston Mead (aka PARSLEY SOUND) have spent almost five years getting their debut album, "Parsley Sounds" (not QUITE eponymous, is it?) together. On work rate alone, The Stone Roses and The Blue Nile would indeed be proud.
However, the gently engaging results suggest the time was ultimately well spent as the results are a gentle sonic breeze with the odd thunderstorm thrown in to disturb the calm when it's most needed.
To be honest, it's hardly what this writer would expect from a label associated with the likes of James Lavelle and UNKLE, but that's to Parsley Sound's credit, as much of this material is warm, organic and acoustic/ folk based with the sleepiest vocals this side of Rip Van Winkle.
"Ease Yourself And Glide" is an attractive opener. A stoned, but determined pop rumble, it's kinda shambolic, but gradually falls into place, with a lazy horn section propping up the melody before it falls away as if out of nowhere. Elsewhere, "Twilight Mushroom" gets even more soporific and pretty, while "Spring Is Near" surprises by rolling in on a Cure-style bassline, but evolves happily into an instrumental worthy of Nick Drake.
Traces of more familiar Mo'Wax gear do crop up from time to time. Tracks like "Yo Yo" allow beats and low-key electronic pulses to enter the fray, but with the twilit vocals and gently picked acoustic, this one eventually recalls no-one more than Talk Talk, while "Ocean House" ups the psychedelic quotient, adding harpsichord and Syd Barrett whimsy to the menu.
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In fact, it's only when Danny and Preston succumb to a surfeit of electronica that they tend to fall flat. "Stevie", for instance, is a tad too fragile, with a theremin and twiddly electro pulse going nowhere slowly, while the potentially interesting "Neon Breeze" is ultimately too stillborn for its' own good and the oddball Warp-isms of the closing "Caution" are a confusing way to sign off: especially after the preceding highlight "Temple Church Mansions", with its' compelling soundtrack-y approach and woozy dublike feel injected with unsettling trumpet blasts.
Nonetheless, by the time "Parsley Sounds" has wound down, you're more than glad you've become acquainted with Danny and Preston as their unhurried folktronica is largely hugely appealing. Be warned, though: their methods suggest demanding a quick follow-up may be a frustrating business.
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