Nostalgia: “a sentimental longing of wistful affection for the past, typically for a period or place with happy personal associations.”
You can feel it towards a physical place, a past time-period or era, or towards a person. Logan J. Parker’s newest single, “Sweet Songs of Love” has me feeling all types of nostalgia, in the best of ways. Plus, she creates all her songs in a fully solar-powered studio! And, I’m only just getting started.
Portugal born, London residing, indie rock artist and producer, Logan J. Parker premiered her new track and accompanying music video last month on Christmas Eve. The song was written two years ago around Christmas about her then-boyfriend, illustrating feelings of missing a loved one who cannot be around because of long distance. The music video presents clips that resemble footage from an old home movie to visually capturing the nostalgic vibe of the song.
The new track also gives me nostalgia for the music of the past and hints at Parker’s sea and sun influenced upbringing. “Sweet Songs of Love” blends bluesy rock with retro sounds reminiscent of the 60s into a soulful modern tune carried strongly by her deep and stunning vocals. Her bohemian-style oil can electric guitar — not frequently used by artists these days — adds a unique layer to the song. Oil can guitars create a sound that’s a cross between an electric guitar, an acoustic guitar, and a banjo. It’s no wonder that her list of musical inspirations ranges from Mississippi Blues to 50’s Jazz to more modern artists like Kaleo and The Teskey Brothers.
While I’ve seen her music be described as pop or indie, it doesn’t take much to tell it’s more like soulful rock at its core. It isn’t just the Rolling Stones t-shirt and fishnets she wears in the music video that scream rock and roll; the Amy Winehouse-like rasp in her voice adds an edge to the beach-vibe-infused melodies.
“Sweet Songs of Love” stirs emotions in the listener while remaining soothing and relaxing. The vocals stay sonorous and full, leaving us with a touching and exciting combination of blues, soul, and rock that’s easy on the ears and will likely appeal to fans of many different genres.
Surprisingly, Parker hasn’t been on the scene too long: her debut EP was released in September 2019. Parker began working on the self-titled EP when she moved from Lisbon to London in 2016 after a health scare prompted her to decide to leave her unsatisfying bank job to follow her passion for composing and performing songs.
Not just her music is rock and roll, but she is as well, having built up a reputation for doing things differently and rebelling to fight for causes she believes in. Not only was releasing “Sweet Songs of Love” on Christmas Eve a bold move, since artists hardly ever release anything then, but she also supports the Extinction Rebellion movement and believes in artist empowerment, especially for women. She creates her music through her own independent company where she owns all her copyright. She stated in a previous interview, “it’s outrageous that music artists are still forced to sign their lives away for a pittance – look at Taylor Swift, all her copyrights now owned by her worst enemy!”
During the lockdown, Parker has been very productive and has released two other home-made singles in 2020: “We’ll Be Gone” and “Blue.” She is currently working on her debut album which is due for release in 2021, and I can’t wait to hear it!
