Music Existence Because of Music, We Exist
In the past year or so, folk singer Christian Parker has shown himself to be one of the more consistent and reliable players in all of his scene. He doesn’t experiment to such an extent that his identity is in a constant state of being reinvented, and although there are moments in which he could be accused of being a puritan, his sound never feels like it’s in a state of arrested development because of how closely he adheres to the traditions of the old school. His new single “Spirit of the Trees” is more a testament to his ability to write a smooth folk tune more than it is anything else, but make no mistake about it – this is a folk song that will have you swinging along in no time at all.
The vocal has more focus on it than I was expecting after listening to the last few tracks this player has under his belt in 2023, but this isn’t a problem at all – the opposite, quite honestly. Parker’s voice has come into its own in more ways than one, and here, I think the progress he’s been making as a studio musician in the time that has gone by since he dropped his very first release. Talent is one thing, but having the chops to bring yourself back to the chalkboard until the formula is as perfect as it would be were you transporting concepts directly from your mind to paper is something entirely different in and of itself.
In the background behind the lead vocal, the guitar, and the beat are in a battle for our attention in this performance that one can only describe using words like unforgettable if you’re a legit folk buff like I am. They’re crashing into each other’s space in more than a couple of instances here, but their chaotic challenge for supremacy over the master mix is a little more inviting than similarly hectic harmonies tend to be. There’s just something really special about what Christian Parker has done here, and I think his folk brethren both in the underground and the mainstream need to be going out of their way to keep a close eye on how he develops in the next few years.
It’s really hard to be a folk fan and not like what this artist has been recording for the better part of the last year, and if you aren’t listening to “Spirit of the Trees,” you need to think about giving it a chance before your day is over. For all of the swing and rhythmic action in this piece, it might be the melodies I got from Christian Parker himself that will stay with me the longest here. He still has a couple of elements in his artistry that I would like to see brought into their own even more than they have been just in the last year, but for what I need in new folk, this single is a homerun and a half.
Stacey Winter
