Para Lia Gone with the Flow
Para Lia
Gone with the Flow
“All The Colours, Step By Step, Are Blending With Her Spider Web”
Lyrics from “My Muse”
Today I have the honor to present you the new album from Para Lia, “Gone With The Flow”
Para Lia is a band based in Cottbus, Germany, founded in 2018 and the members are René Methner, vocals, all instruments and his wife Cindy Methner, vocals.
They released their debut album “Soap Bubble Dreams” in 2019 and this album already showed what they can do with their music. And now they present the new one to us and will seamlessly build on the success of the first album.
And the special thing about it is the collaboration with the artist Louis Renzoni who has transformed the music into pictures that can be admired on a virtual tour:
You’ll find on this artistic expedition explanations about the songs but also thoughts of the great painter, based in New York whose works have already been seen in the Museum of Modern Art. Mutually inspiring, the idea arose to hold an exhibition in New York at the same time as the album was released, unfortunately this was destroyed by Corona and so it became without a virtual exhibition. What a brilliant idea and not only a delight to listen but also an absolute highlight for the eyes. Enjoy this virtual exhibition and immerse yourself in the fabulous world of music and painting!
It’s great to see how both sides inspire each other, like for example the visualization of Louis for the song “Riders On The Dike” and vice versa the origin of the song “My Muse”, inspired by a painting by Renzoni.
The Album:
“My Muse”, a great start to the album, a very poignant song with strong lyrics and a powerful sound, great guitar work as we are used to from René.
“Fade To Grey”, a true power ballad, popping drums, a real rock anthem.
“Children Of The Flood”, again a song with the stunning guitar work, a a little quieter song which is crowned by the fantastic voice of Cindy and accompanied by Fady Haddad.
“Kassandra”, written for Cindy and the perfect choice for her outstanding voice. It’s like a tale which is told and the sound that gets louder and quieter makes this song one of my favorites. You can hear an instrument called Greek Baglamas, comparable to a buzouki, which creates a cool vibe.
“Riders On The Dike”, lead track of the album and featuring Amanda Kim Sanderson, uplifting and melodic, a pleasure to listen to!
“Fools”, featuring Terry Wigmore, powerful and also moderate, catchy lyrics, starts very calmly and slowly builds up, another rock ballad.
“Fire (My Chemical Imbalance) featuring Fady Haddad, this song reminds me of The Cure, I love the chorus and the drums in it.
“Time And Again”, a waltz, harmonious and with guitar sounds that are second to none, perfect!
“Kaleidoscope”, I love when the voice of Cindy comes along, the two complement each other in every way and the all instruments do their part to make this song stunning.
“The Painter”, great vocals and a song with a melodic sound with a cool guitar solo in it, it’s like they “painting” a song.
“No Time For Butterflies”, sounds like a kind of protesting song, brilliant lyrics and very harmonious and it feels like the artists wanted to send us a message.
Para Lia is without a doubt a fantastic band and a perfect collaboration between René and Cindy. The first album made big waves in the music scene and it will be the same with this one.
They stand for indie /alternative Rock music from the 90s as well as for the 8Os dark wave music. A brilliant combination, a bit like The Cure, New Order and other fantastic bands but ultimately Para Lia, with their own style and fabulous songwriting.
