Lifetime of Comedy is the new release from the Parson Red Heads. The collection will be released on 13 November via Portland, Oregon’s Fluff and Gravy label. The collection follows the band’s 2017 effort, Blurred Harmony and features the lineup of Evan Way, new member Jake Smith and Brette Marie Way (drums, vocals), Robbie Augspurger (bass), and Raymond Richards (multi-instrumentalist, producer).
The Parson Red Heads’ new single, “Turn Around”, (released 25 September) demonstrates the group’s penchant for chiming, Byrds-like guitars and sublime vocals, married with contemporary sensibilities. It’s a pop tune, but pop as heard through ears more attuned to AM radio’s glory days rather than streaming playlists and studio trickery.
Way says, “‘Turn Around’ started as a lot of the songs I’ve been writing these days do: “As a half-gibberish sung melody line, sung into my phone’s voice memo while driving to work or the store. It stayed in that form for a good year before I found it, dusted it off, and brought it to the band.”
He adds, “This song is a testament to the strength of the band’s collaborative writing on this album. I don’t think I’ve ever brought to the group a less finished form than this song, and over the course of a couple of rehearsals, just playing through it, trying different approaches and ideas, it took shape. Everyone’s parts are so integral to the song’s small and simple beauty; this is a song I’m really very proud of on this album. It’s a simple love song, the lyrics a statement of devotion. In many ways, it is like a classic old Parson Red Heads song, in both theme and sound, but it has this element of the La’s or the Charlatans in it that I just love. And Raymond (Richards, multi-instrumentalist and producer) was able to help us get such a great mix of guitar sounds, 12-strings, Nashville strung electric, Jake’s melodic lines going over the top, a great balance of being lush without being over-crowded.”