Parade is in fact the solo project of Chris Johnson, surrounded by ex-members of Panic Room and Mostly Autumn. Johnson, himself previously a member of Mostly Autumn and formerly on tour with Fish, has also appealed to include Heather Findlay and Bryan Josh. You might expect that the music would go in the direction of higher quoted groups. But this is certainly not the case, except perhaps for the closing track «The Ending».
After a first listening, it is difficult to determine whether this is modern progressive rock or indie rock. ‘Come Alive’ is carried by the penetrating voice of Anne-Marie Helder, supported by compelling instrumentation, where a typical snare drum sound (a bit in the style of Pure Reason Revolution). With ‘Start Again’, the tempo is accelerated, nice guitar riffs mixed with male and female vocals (not always clearly distinguishable). This song has a catchy chorus, but on closer listening you can hear also technical features. «The Diamond» in turn has a very quiet building, beautiful singing of Helder and also harmonious vocals with the rest of the band, gradually joined by the instruments in a climax to the end. This is the kind of alternative rock that goes in the direction of bands like Coldplay and Snow Patrol, but with more depth.
The close singing always come back, also in High Life, where a nice combination of vocals à la CSN & Y, percussion and Eastern influences are very surprising. Chris often uses voice distortion, this really might be somewhat redundant, because he has a good voice. «The Dogs» starts as a quiet Porcupine Tree or even better Blackfield (a side project of Steven Wilson), with at the end some roaring guitars.
Even in the quit songs Parade does not sound ‘common’ (Facing Down ). ‘Line Feed’ makes me think at the beginning of RPWL, a catchy chorus with a lot of up tempo sound, although at the end the noise sounds are a little exaggerated. In ‘Cut’ a quiet intro builds up into surprisingly solid rock.
And after the minimalist and laid back ‘All that I wanted’ the album ends in a Mostly Autumn-mood, not at the least by the presence of a typical long guitar solo from Brian Josh, «Ending» is the longest track with the most progressive influences.
In short, «The Fabric» is a pleasant album, where by the presence of the guest musicians you might expect other music. The songs are quite original, which by no means seems evident in the current musical landscape. Highly recommended!
