Melody Parker is a composer of intricate chamber music, and Archipelago her debut album is no exception. The album invites listeners to enter an alternate world and time, but it also evokes the familiar as well as the fantastical. These songs are a celebration and mourning for the watery home that we all know, as well as for the paradoxical riches of our experiences within it. Parker’s work is full of emotion, at turns contemplative and carnivalesque. Her orchestrations combine incongruous elements to create surprising results. Kitchen-sink drumming and drum machines. Parade brass and girl group vocals. Old-world accordion, and new wave synths. Woodwinds and bells for choirs. Parker’s meticulous construction is countered by a gang of virtuosic musicians who add their amazing freedom to the music. from www.soundsmelodious.com
