Imagine a Reed / Dylanesque vocal lacquered in a modern blend of elements of The Church, The Red House Painters and Slowdive… Now you don’t have to (imagine). Just listen, as we have the pleasure of premiering a track that brings exactly that mix. Heartfelt and folk-centered with Ride-esque uplifting interjections on the chorus, Philip Parfitt has found an optimal balance between bard and rock star. We love it and look forward to what the full album brings.

Singer-songwriter Philip Parfitt may be best known as frontman of renowned UK-based alternative band The Perfect Disaster, but his solo efforts are definitely worth taking note of. Recently signed to UK/ German label A Turntable Friend Records for his new album Mental Home Recordings, we can expect that collection of tunes to drop in various formats on October 30. This is Parfitt’s second solo album, following 2014’s I’m Not The Man I Use To Be.

Previewing the new LP is the single ‘All Fucked Up’ featuring Bordeaux-based psychedelic folk-rock artist Alex Creepy Mojo. The accompanying video is directed by filmmaker Luigi Dias, starring actress Melissa Oxlade.

Philip Parfitt founded The Perfect Disaster in 1980 and served as guitarist, vocalist and primary songwriter. They went on to release four albums and reached number fifteen on the UK Indie Chart before splitting up in 1991. With this, his other band Oediupussy and in his solo performances, he has shared stages with the likes of Nico, Spiritualized, Spacemen 3, My Bloody Valentine, the Pixies, the Chills, the Jesus and Mary Chain, among others.

Parfitt played on Spectrum’s first album with Jason Pierce. Also guitarist Terry Bickers (House of Love, Levitation) contributed to Oedipussy’s album ‘Divan’. Parfitt also gave significant starts to Josephine Wiggs (who played in the Perfect Disaster before joining The Breeders) and to the Heliocentrics’ Malcolm Catto, who likewise played on the Perfect Disaster’s first.

Given the quality and the breadth of Parfitt’s output over the past forty years, it’s pretty clear that he’s far more interested in making his art than in talking about it. When asked where his songs come from, Philip Parfitt says, “I don’t know. I don’t ask, and I don’t often even think about it. I don’t even know what they’re about most of the time. The meaning is only revealed, when at all, later.”

“I always have a pen and notebook and something to record with,” he says. “So even if I don’t know exactly how I’m doing it, I appear to be doing it a lot.”

Lucky for us. At a time when just about everything is offered to us as product, when we are awash on a sea of materialism, it’s a relief to encounter a sensibility like this, one that works so selectively to shine a light into the darkest recesses of our battered psyches. It’s difficult to say where the “defining moment” of a career as long as Parfitt’s is – probably there are several – but ‘Mental Home Recordings’ is assuredly one.

On October 30, 2020, Mental Home Recordings will be released digitally and on very limited purple vinyl and limited black vinyl (both in gatefold sleeve), as well as on CD with a special booklet. It can be ordered directly from A Turntable Friend Records via Bandcamp

CREDITS
Written and performed by Philip Parfitt
Produced, mixed and mastered by Philip Parfitt
Recorded by Parfitt and Alex Creepy Mojo
Alex Creepy Mojo – guitar
Cover artwork conceived by Parfitt and created by Fernando Ruibal
Sleeve notes written by Matthew Specktor

Also enjoy Parfitt’s previous single, released several months ago:

Philip Parfitt
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