Privilege, Pt. 1: On Death & Endearments - EP

The group inaugurates this ambitious experiment with Privilege, pt 1: On Death & Endearments'a compelling four-song suite drenched in the long-latent glam-racket so often suggested in Pennington's androgynous lilt. Nowhere is this more apparent than with lead-off track 'Evelyn McHale,' a Bolanian homage that much like Entanglements' 'A Song For Ellie Greenwich' imagines the infamous title character as a springboard for more allegorical confessions. The cinematic desperation of 'Someone Else's Muse' follows' its pulsing grandeur underscoring a tale of emasculation and resentment in the face of another's deserved success. The deathbed march of 'On Death & Endearments' punctuated by gloriously gated snares and a haunting angel chorus' simultaneously recalls the staggering Hounds Of Love heights of Kate Bush, and the calculating, icy croon of early Roxy Music. The EP concludes with 'Found Drama I,' a tragic, Eno-indebted lullaby whose atmospheric longing swells with heartbreaking sweetness. Together, they comprise a bold, strikingly cohesive pop clarion call that further solidifies Parenthetical Girls' place amongst the most surprising and uncompromising pop groups at work today. And there's more where that came from.