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Jul 25, 2024 By Marina Malin Photography by Ben Wearing

London-based singer/songwriter Tess Parks announced her third solo album, Pomegranate, and shared its lead single “Koalas” (which features Molly Lewis). Pomegranate will be released on October 25 via Fuzz Club and Hand Drawn Dracula. Find the record’s tracklist and cover art below. Also below, watch the music video for “Koalas.”

Pomegranate was recorded between London, Toronto, and Los Angeles as Parks collaborates with long-term band members Ruari Meehan and engineer Mikko Gordon. Pomegranate follows Parks’ 2022 album, And Those Who Were Seen Dancing.

Of the new track, Parks said this in a press release: “In November 2020, Ruari was in London and I was in Toronto and he sent me the music for ‘Koalas.’ At this point, we hadn’t seen each other in over a year. It would be another year before we saw each other again. I was suffering from severe PTSD at this point in my life, and to be honest, I couldn’t bring myself to listen to the song properly until early February. When I finally did—it was one of those moments when you hear a song and you know it’s going to be one of your favorite, most cherished songs for your whole life. It’s the most beautiful music I’ve ever heard.

“Ruari sending me this song instigated the making of this album—a daily back and forth correspondence where he would send me music and I would sing some words over it and then he would sing other ideas back to me. It was a true lifeline at what felt like the end of the world. I don’t know who I would be without these songs, this song particularly, and waking up everyday looking forward to what he was going to send me next.”

Pomegranate is a record that explores pain, resilience, and hope. Parks adds this on the record: “Look—there’s so much tragedy happening in the world right now. It’s so easy to feel helpless. It feels self-indulgent to be someone singing at all from their own perspective. But if anything, this album is a gift of love, our contribution to the world of something beautiful that we made amongst so much pain. It’s our message of empowerment to keep going even when life feels unliveable and unjust—having faith that this moment will pass if you can find a way to just breathe into the next moment. Believing that the future could possibly be really bright… knowing that sharing your light really does have a butterfly effect, even in a small way within your community and your family and friends, you are capable of making a greater impact than you understand.

“I went through a long period of feeling like I never wanted to make music again. What is the point of singing? Everything is pointless. I was taking refuge making paintings, sitting in silence for hours. There was a lot of processing to do. I am so grateful that I was given the encouragement to continue creating with sound, and that’s what Ruari has done for me. It seems only right to give back that encouragement to others.”

Pomegranate Tracklist:

1. Bagpipe Blues

2 .California’s Dreaming

3. Koalas

4. Lemon Poppy

5. Charlie Potato

6. Crown Shy

7. Running Home To Sing

8. Sunnyside

9. Surround

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