Sounds | Thelma & James - Parking Lot Prayers
- John Van de Mergel
- 30 sep
- 2 minuten om te lezen
Bijgewerkt op: 3 okt
Naar aanleiding van de release van hun eerste EP Starting Over laat ik dit fantastische duo héél graag nog eens aan bod komen. Telkens wanneer ik kan, schotel ik jullie een live versie van een song voor. Ook wat de single Parking Lot Prayers betreft. Zoals gewoonlijk zorgt de harmonieuze samenzang van MacKenzie Porter and Jake Etheridge voor kippenvel. Neem daarbij een akoestische gitaar, een viool en ook een banjo en je voelt zo dat dit plaatje helemaal klopt. Live klinkt het nummer trouwens wat meer upbeat. De studio versie heeft een portie meer aan melancholie alvorens een gospelkoor de finale grootser maakt. Ik hou alvast van beide versies.
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“Our very first EP is out in the world,” share Thelma & James. “We have both been making music for years, but writing together is new, exciting and has inspired us in ways we didn't expect. These songs are the beginning of Thelma & James. This is us, starting over.”
Not realizing the best writing partner was right under their noses the whole time, their first co-write in over a decade produced the EP's opening song and viral track “Happy Ever After You” that Billboard notes as a “pared-back ballad of a love undimmed by the time and miles between.” The impromptu song made waves online with support from Kendall Jenner, John Mayer, Luke Combs and more. From there the duo began forging a musical path that led Atwood Magazine to detail them as having “heartbreak in their harmonies and fire in their veins.”
Porter and Etheridge co-wrote every song on the new EP alongside trusted collaborators including production by Lonas. The resonance of “Happy Ever After You” opened doors for the duo to write with esteemed songwriters like GRAMMY® Award-winners Natalie Hemby, Lori McKenna, Josh Osborne and more – ultimately penning songs that made the project.
Emblematic of their impactful songwriting, Starting Over features new songs like “Parking Lot Prayers.” Not holding back in conveying the solemn reality of fading hope, the pair of “harmonizing songbirds” (MusicRow) drench the new song in honesty. Previously released songs like “Nostalgic for Nothing,” “Canaries in a Coal Mine,” “Chainsmokin Memories” that Atwood Magazine defines as “swampy Americana and bluegrass” and the “aching ballad” (Holler) “First Love” are highlighted on the project with new additions like “Loser” and title track “Starting Over.”
