Toronto-born, London-based artist Tess Parks today returns with her long-awaited new album ‘And Those Who Were Seen Dancing’ on Fuzz Club Records and Hand Drawn Dracula in Canada. Alongside the new album, Parks has also announced UK/EU tour and festival dates in support.
Following years of international touring and a lengthy list of critically-acclaimed collaborations with Brian Jonestown Massacre’s Anton Newcombe in recent years (most recently the duo’s self-titled 2018 LP), the new album will be Parks’ first full-length solo offering since her much-loved debut album, ‘Blood Hot’, was released back in 2013. Trailing the highly-praised singles ‘Happy Birthday Forever’, ‘Brexit at Tiffany’s’ and ‘Do You Pray?’, ‘And Those Who Were Seen Dancing’ is out now and available to stream/purchase here: tessparks.lnk.to/dancin
“In my mind, this album is like hopscotch”, Parks says of the album: “These songs were pieced together over time in London, Toronto and Los Angeles with friends and family between August 2019 and March 2021. So many other versions of these songs exist. The recording and final completion of this album took over two years and wow - the lesson I have learned the most is that words are spells. If I didn’t know it before, I know it now for sure. I only want to put good out into the universe.”
A creeping disillusionment with the state of the world paired with an injury that stopped Parks from being able to play guitar and piano for months meant the album was nearly shelved. “I really felt discouraged to complete this album. I stopped listening to music for honestly about a year altogether and turned to painting instead. I really had to convince myself again that it’s important to just share whatever good we can - having faith in ourselves to know that our lights can shine on and on through other people and for other people. The thought of anyone not sharing their art or being shy of anything they create seems like a real tragedy to me. Even if it’s not perfect, you’re capturing a moment.”
Recorded over two years between 2019 and 2021 but with songs, lyrics and ideas dating back over a decade in some form, the incoming ‘And Those Who Were Seen Dancing’ is an album full of such moments, people and places. The album is out now on digital/CD and the vinyl is released June 24th.
AND THOSE WHO WERE SEEN DANCING TOUR DATES
- 06/08 • London, UK • South Facing Festival
- 14/08 • Copenhagen, DK • Common Ground Festival
- 03/09 • Manchester, UK • Manchester Psych Festival
- 09/09 • Normandy, FR • Rock In The Barn Festival
- 14/09 • Nantes, FR • Scene Michelet
- 15/09 • Paris, FR • La Maroquinerie
- 16/09 • Lille, FR • Strawberry Fields Festival
- 25/09 • Amsterdam, NL • Paradiso
- 02/10 • Norwich, UK • Norwich Psych Festival
- 26/10 • Newcastle, UK • Cluny 2
- 28/10 • Glasgow, UK • Stereo
- 28/10 • Leeds, UK • Hyde Park Book Club
- 29/10 • Liverpool, UK • Phantasmagoria
- 18/11 • Hamburg, DE • Molotow
- 19/11 • Berlin, DE • SynÄsthesie Festival
- 22/11 • Cologne, DE • Bumann & Sohn
- 23/11 • Stuttgart, DE • Merlin
- 24/11 • Munich, DE • Import Export
- 25/11 • Graz, AT • Dom Im Berg
- 26/11 • Vienna, AT • Flex
- 28/11 • Konstanz, DE • Kulturladen
- 29/11 • Zurich, CH • Bogen F
- 30/11 • La Chaux-de-Fonds, CH • Bikini Test
- 01/12 • Numberg, DE • Z-bau
- 02/12 • Damstadt, DE • 806qm
TICKETS: tessparks.lnk.to/tickets