Parasouls’ new single is unaffected, unadulterated, unfettered by pageantry – and believe it or not, that’s becoming rarer than we’re ready to admit.
Stating the obvious has never been a strong suit of mine. But I am making an exception for this opening
paragraph and get it out of the way:
I am a morose fuck.
That deserves a restatement, I think, so let’s try again:
I am an occasionally-glib, sunshine-averse, obscurantist shit.
Which is my roundabout way of saying: I envy anyone who, at any age or station in life or disposition, is capable of utter, unadulterated joy. Which is my yet-even-more-roundabout way of saying: I envy Parasouls’ capacity for earnest expression, something that’s on full display on today’s release, “Will You Be Mine?”
In a pre-release statement, the band said the new track is about “yearning and falling for someone” that the world otherwise sees as a “red flag,” someone “up to no good,” yet who, through your own rose-colored gaze, makes “all those red flags turn to green.”
They further explained that even with the risk of dangerous feelings, that pull becomes fuel to “become a better version” of yourself, hoping the one who seems out of reach might finally notice.
I appreciate all of that, but what matters most to me is the manner in which all that emotional backstory is ferried through the music, rhyme or reason be damned, for better or for worse. Fortunately, the jangle-happy, arpeggio-addled tune can vie to be a largely convincing illustration for the dictionary entry “modern indie rock”: unaffected, unadulterated, unfettered by pageantry.
The fretwork is innocently melodious; the singing sports a straightforward candor; the mix is decidedly unmanicured. And man, those are in serious scarcity these days, am I wrong?
But despite all of this, the Dani Dimaano-penned song shines, because that’s what plainspokenness brings: a clarity that cuts through affectation, letting the heart hit first, the craft second, and the art linger long after the last chord fades.
“Will You Be Mine?” purportedly marked the end of a protracted writing slump for Dimaano, during which she decided to “go back to basics” and revisit the movie that first got her into songwriting: ‘Sing Street.’ The film reignited her spark, and soon “the words started pouring out,” so much so that a few choice lines inevitably had to be trimmed.
The band’s rekindled enthusiasm for musicmaking is palpable – guitarist Igoy Dimaano kills it, for one thing, if not chops-wise then certainly on the emotional-truth rubric – and the track is all the better for it.
The song also enjoys the distinction of being their first to be partially labored over at the Lilystars homebase, The Lilypod.
Parasouls recently popped their overseas-gig cherry (via our friends from Requiem Rising in Singapore),and a full album is projected for a 2026 release. The band has already leapt a great deal from where they were, say, a year back, and though their M.O. isn’t a terribly cerebral one – thank God – theirs I think is a growth worth charting and cheering on.