Last Updated on December 21, 2023
The start of this album totally caught me off guard. It starts like any one of millions of landfill indie records. It’s all lightly strummed, mildly distorted chords. But then… WHOOOMP!
The music lifts, like a hot sonic geyser. The sound is lush, immersive, powerful and uplifting. The second track ‘Insomnia’ stutters and shakes in a way that I’ve never heard before. It sounds like it’s tilting forward, staying together somehow. It’s like the aural version of that falling feeling you get when delirious but in a good way!
The song just keeps lifting and lifting. I’m finding it difficult to describe, but I know it’s genius.
There’s a very light dusting of metal, or at least some of the smoother elements of metal on this album. I’m not sure everyone will notice, but it gives ‘After the magic’ a wonderful genre-crossing appeal. There’s even a bit of shoegaze in the mix; with the breathy vocals of Chapterhouse and the shimmering guitars of My Bloody Valentine.
Parannoul combines a wild array of sounds, and the outcome is an album that is just so jubilant. The genres and influences aren’t always obvious on this album. However hard I try to reverse-engineer the songs in my head, there’s so much I just can’t figure out. But music like this here is for enjoyment, not for intellectualising over.
The drumming on this album is remarkable. It has elements of mad jazz, heavy rock and keeps the momentum of the tracks always moving forward, continually lifting up.
After the Magic is one of the most accessible and joyful albums I’ve heard for a long time. This album should be huge.
I love hearing albums like ‘After the Magic’, they reassure me that music is still moving forward. The best music we’ll ever hear is in the future, not locked in the past in some imagined ‘Golden era’.
P.S I’ve just looked up Parannoul and it is in fact the output of just one person in South Korea. What’s more remarkable is that Parannoul is apparently completely anonymous. Stuff that up yer jumper Smash Hits!
