Darkly experimental South London collective PARADE debut two tracks of experimentally dark magnificence

19 May 2025, 14:00 | Written by The Line of Best Fit

(Tracks)

(Parade)

In perhaps the best debut track drop we’ve heard this year, Parade are a new London collective who create a sound that vibrates with an energy and invention that could only come from influences as diverse as Wim Wenders, The Radio Dept., Scott Walker, John Cassavetes, Judy Garland, Arca, Bette Davis and Sun Ra.

Ahead of a mixtape due this July titled Lightning Hit the Trees, Parade have revealed two songs that unfold where their sounds is from, and where it might head: the Portishead-brushed "Picking Flowers", and the minimal, fuzzy freestyle of "Que?". Both are washed in a jazzy freeform that recalls No wave as much as the sound of Bowie's final years and a counterpoint to what Leeds' collective HONESTY are doing a few hundred miles up north.

The eight-piece band came together in founding member Jago’s attic room in Brighton but are now scattered over the ever-growing music hubs of South East London - Nunhead, Forest Hill, Camberwell and Norwood. Every member is involved in their own capacity in music, art, fashion and design. Lightning Hit the Trees was put together in under two weeks and recorded in a Forest Hill shipping container, "on basic, often broken, equipment with ideas often formed in the moment."

There's a live show at Ramsgate Music Hall on 24 May ahead of the mixtape release - via their own imprint Appointment 1 – on 11 July.

Pre-save Lightning Hit the Trees or p re-order on vinyl