'Messily infectious, sparsely beautiful & haunting... an album of steadily emergent charm but which also remains strangely self-effacing.' - The Wire

'Unsurprisingly, when he broods, particularly on the slow-hand strut of 'Boxers', Parish is as mean and moody as they come, but it's the lighter moments that surprise, such as the piano plonks of 'Kansas City Electrician' and the celebratory slide & strums of 'Even Redder Than That'. Entirely unassuming and all the more enjoyable for it.' -
new-noise.net

'Parish lets loose on the twanging 'Kansas City Electrician' and the romping 'Even Redder Than That'  (included in both mandolin-fueled acoustic and raucous electric versions), but Once Upon A Little Time revels in little, everyday details conveyed in quiet, understated songs.' - Magnet

'Most famous as the man who injected some of the thrashy vitriol into the career of Polly Harvey, West Country gun-for-hire John Parish is a seasoned collaborator. However, as his third solo album - largely conceived and recorded in Italy - proves, he's a dab hand at his own slick-haired, Oxfam-suited brand of indie Bohemia. Spiky but with a soft underside, if you like Nick Cave enough to buy a record by a man who probably knows where he lives, it's a done deal.' - BBC Collective: The interactive Culture Magazine

The songs on Once Upon a Little Time bloom as slowly as lotus blossom, their graceful colours and subtle variations revealing themselves gradually. Given time to breath they lodge themselves gently into your psyche and refuse to let go.' - musicOMH.com

'A very accomplished album.' - Drowned in Sound

'It's a good thing that John Parish has finally come out of the closet as a solo artist'  - De Morgen (Belgium) - album of the week

Once Upon A Little Time (660 words)
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Award winning composer, producer and multi-instrumentalist John Parish releases his new album ‘Once Upon A Little Time’ through Thrill Jockey Records this September.

Recorded last year by Marco Tagliola at Perpetuum Mobile studio in Nave , Italy , Toybox in Bristol and Sun Studios in Copenhagen , the album sees Parish join forces with Jean-Marc Butty (drums) Marta Collica (keyboards/vocals) and Giorgia Poli (bass/vocals).

With guest appearances from Adrian Utley (Portishead), Jeremy Hogg (PJ Harvey) and Hugo Race (Bad Seeds, Sepiatone) the album talks about the heroic struggle of everyday life, yet it also talks nonsense.

While recording ‘Once Upon A Little Time’, the core group of Parish, Collica, Poli and Butty developed a musical vocabulary and conversational tone that only a band can have. Most of the tracks were cut live in the studio and you can hear the trust the four have in each other as they waiver between intense emotional fragility and unashamed recklessness.

The album title is inspired by John Parish’s youngest daughter, Hopey. Hopey used to begin all of her stories with this phrase and it resonated in Parish’s mind as he liked the combination of the epic and intimate. Hopey also makes her recorded debut on this album. She wandered into the studio while Parish was recording a vocal and started playing the organ. It sounded good, so Parish stopped singing, held the mic over the organ speaker and left the tape running.

Apart from Kevin Hunter’s ‘Somebody Else’, all the songs on Once Upon A Little Time are Parish’s own compositions, and, in the case of ‘ Glade Park ’ he draws inspiration from even the most bleakest of circumstances. The song was written after Parish visited the Colorado National Monument . He was told it was beautiful, but after contracting a serious bacterial infection in his left eye, was unable to see it himself. He narrowly escaped losing his sight altogether and had to stay there a week while it was treated. ‘I couldn’t stand any light,’ said Parish. ‘So I could only go outside in the middle of the night, crunching around on the snow with really blurry vision. It was like being on another planet. Oddly enjoyable.’

Parish first came to prominence as co-producer & multi-instrumentalist on PJ Harvey's To Bring You My Love. Parish & Harvey were involved in a number of projects together including the 'Dance Hall At Louse Point' collaboration for which he wrote the music & she the lyrics.

As a producer & a contributor, Parish has been involved in some of the most critically acclaimed albums of the past couple of years including Tracey Chapman’s ‘Let It Rain’, Sparklehorse's 'It's A Wonderful Life', Goldfrapp's 'Felt Mountain' and Giant Sand's 'Chore Of Enchantment'. Parish also co-wrote and produced the stunning 'Souljacker' album with the Eels. Touring the world with them and cementing a friendship with the band that lasts to this day.

‘Once Upon A Little Time’ is Parish’s third album under his own name. The first was 1999's 'Rosie', the original soundtrack to Belgian director Patrice Toye’s fim of the same name. Parish's score for ‘Rosie’ went on to win the Special Jury Prize at the 1999 Bonn International Film Music Biennale.

His second release was 2002’s ‘How Animals Move’, a mainly instrumental album that featured an eleven piece band. With contributions from Polly Harvey and Clare MacTaggart, the record was recorded in various studios and non-studios around the world. It ranges from the solo violin of 'Absolute Beauty Is An Absolute Curse' to the title track, a live recording of Parish's band with Portishead's Adrian Utley and slide guitarist Jeremy Hogg.

‘Once Upon A Little Time’ has been described as ‘a grown–up record for people who loathe music for grown-ups’, and with its release, Parish will no doubt see his musical vision reach an even wider audience. Intimate, intense, serious, frivolous and not to be ignored.

'Once Upon A Little Time' is released worldwide this September through Thrill Jockey.

For further information on John Parish, please contact Thrill Jockey Records. Tel: 312-492-9634.
Jessica Linker -- jessica@thrilljockey.com
Xylia Buros -- xylia@thrilljockey.com

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