PARISII – Old Stories (2020)
Taking inspiration from his youth, Mitch Parrish, the man behind PARISII, conveys a range of themes in his debut EP Old Stories. The five-track EP moves from the great outdoors to staying young to changing weather and leaning on your loved ones. Full of uplifting moments tempered with moody contemplation, the EP leaves you feeling inspired and calm.
Using music as an outlet, PARISII fills you with the calming emotions he gains from the process. The healing and uplifting feeling of his songs is the creative balance of his work as a Physician Assistant. This inspiring EP will make you long for the mountains of his childhood home while basking in the calm they provide.
The EP starts with ‘Clouds’ and its light progressive guitar opening. Through this guitar line, you can imagine soft fluffy clouds lazily floating across the sky. Parrish’s vocals are as laid-back and easy as the melody. This song gets you into the calm vibes and lets you breathe a little easier. The peaceful feeling of the track makes you so serene that you will not realise the song is almost 5 minutes long.
The title track ‘Old Stories’ has a gentle driving guitar melody with this whiff of nostalgia. This is enhanced by the lyrics that highlight the old stories you are told about days gone by. There is a slight haziness to the vocals that add to the reminiscing of the song. While steeped in nostalgia, the track does have this great motivational message.
‘Slower Now’ lives up to the name with a much slower melody. The pace of the track brings back some of the easiness of the opening song but also has a completely different vibe to it. The melody makes you really want to head out into the mountains or relax in a meadow with a gentle breeze sweeping over you. This is by far the most laid-back single on the EP and it makes you just want to sit back and relax.
‘Young’ has this great guitar line that draws you into the story of the lyrics. Lyrically, you are taken out to the mountains, but there is something more lurking in the story. There is a wonderful folky feel to this song with these amazing beats that come later on. The combination of that guitar line and the shuffling beats gives the song this youthful injection.
The EP ends with ‘Breathe’ which has this twanging line throughout it that draws you down the track. Parrish’s vocals have this easy lilting quality to them as you breathe with the song. The track seems to fortify you for the rest of your day and lets you calmly emerge into the real world after listening to the album.
PARISII draws on wide open spaces and calming vibes for his EP Old Stories. Through the gentle tones of the EP, you are left feeling relaxed and calm while also inspired and fortified to face the world.
Find out more about PARISII on his website, Facebook, Instagram and Spotify.
