L.A. artist Bashlow’s music is sonically brilliant with Real Poet vibes. Her new single is called “Parliaments”, but it feels like the title should be “Reckless” because that word repeats throughout each chorus. The “Parliaments” she references are a brand of cigarette, in case you youngsters didn’t know.
The song is really about being reckless in matters of the heart (sort of like Taylor’s three-week fling with Matt H). Bashlow explains, “There’s nothing quite like having feelings for someone you know isn’t good for you. You know you should know better, but you’re enjoying the ride so much you don’t really care about the destination. I can be a bit reckless when left to my own devices – give me a partner in crime and I can get up to no good so quickly.”
Last year Bashlow released three attention-getting singles. Both “7 Letter Word” and “Self-Destruct” have elegant, Caroline Polachek-esque melodies. But my favorite is “Busy!”, a post-breakup song that doesn’t sound regretful in the least. In fact, there’s an almost shamanic ecstasy in the towering chorus.
Bashlow is a subtly expressive lyricist, too. In the new single, she sings, “Got on my knees like I’m a zealot.” And in “Busy!” she mentions both a Greek chorus and the “circuses and bread” that Roman emperors once used to pacify the rabble. In short, her lyrics are refreshingly superior to the banal “breakup / makeup” stuff we often hear.
Listen to “Parliaments” below, or find it on the streaming platforms.
