Pure House from an emerging name is rare – the kind of sound that you would expect to hear from the greats, Masters at Work, Dennis Ferrer, Honey Dijon, Kerri Chandler, CJ Mackintosh… This is the authentic real deal from Hollis Parker and his new album Newscapism. He is a unique DJ who crafts his productions with a touch of the old-school NYC production style with added hip hop feel and jazz fusion style, but with a totally contemporary and fresh approach, effortlessly holding his own against the above greats and an artist to take note of.
New York (Queens) born and London based, his roots really shine through with regards to his production style. First turning heads with his 2014 ‘Sunshine’, edit of Roy Ayres dreamy classic ‘Everybody Loves The Sunshine’ setting a standard, he then released further vinyl only house E.Ps on his own co-owned imprint SoSure Music. Soon after, he cemented himself into the scene with his first critically acclaimed album ‘Last Raw Era’ (2016) a work full of sub-bass and sass and establishing his ongoing style.
The Last Raw Era was an album inspired by his time in NYC, a musical diary of his feelings and emotions after a breakup, with the songs reflecting exactly how he felt; documenting particular moments in time for him. Punctuated with clips and samples from film and constructed in a way many hip-hop artists would present their work.
His new album Newscapism is produced in the same way, a natural extension of his last album, continuing the story, reflecting his final 24 hours in the city and his move away to a new life. The tracks individually examining what was holding him there and why he had to move away. Continuing the narrative, naturally bringing you to the next chapter in his life with a new city, new loves and new adventures.
Using samples to create a collage of different feels and structures in his tracks like ‘Can’t Let Go’ exhibiting the emotion of a reluctance to leave, full of energy, pace and floating piano keys and a driving kick, house production at its finest. With diverse tempo’s and feels featuring throughout ‘The Way You’re Making Me Feel’ is slightly low slung but still dreamy in its feel. Moving onto ’Uptown Sunday Morning (AKA Flashback), with more sub-bass, spoken word and jazz elements, it is then followed by the interlude ‘Reasons For Leaving’ giving further insight int the city.
Further pace, guitar licks and house mastery are introduced on City Blues, and a homage to the big apple in ‘A Page About Manhattan’ and then onto ‘A Fair Goodbye’ closing out his NYC story and bringing his album to a subtle end. This is a cohesive and emotional collection of pure house tracks and joy to hear in its entirety.
Hollis Parker has managed to consistently put out material that pays homage to his roots both in Hip Hop, Jazz, Jazz Fusion and House, garnering support from heavyweights such as Larry Heard, DJ Sneak, Charles Webster and Joyce Muniz to name a few. This is undoubtedly a name that many of you will first discover and subsequently pay attention to.
Hollis Parker ‘Newscapsim’ is out now on SoSure Music
