OTW #483: Paradise

Esoteric Dream-Pop

“That’s a really mean question” chuckles Joseph Marshall of Paradise, upon being asked to describe the band’s sound. In a quick chat with the singer just before heading out on a short tour with Birmingham’s Swim Deep. “It’s pop music, really,” proclaims the singer, after a long pause, “it’s just pop music through our filter, I guess.”

Amongst the artistic offspring of East London, Paradise are upholding the lo-fi bedroom recording aesthetic, although tending to switch melancholic overtones for an esoteric wave of positivity: notably purveyed through their 2012 single – ‘Endless Wave’. Incorporating dual vocals echoing Aztec Camera, layered above a multitude of idyllic synthesizers, constructing an atmospheric glimmer of the band’s enchanting soundscape, with a single release inspired by ‘the sunshine’. “We’re quite affected by the seasons. So in the winter we tend to write less summery sounding songs and in the summer we think of going all out, as we’re so excited about the sunshine. But ‘Endless Wave’ was a really positive feeling song, and I guess we were just doing what came naturally with that one.”

Citing influences from a vast record collection, ranging from “The Stone Roses to Alice Coltrane”. As Marshall continues: “we’re just interested in good music, wherever it comes from. I guess that we just want to be another band that makes good music.” Speaking of the inspiration for their tantalizing creative approach, comprised of joyous vibes and a pensive percussive intent, forming a fortification of textured, steadily crafted instrumentation. With just a handful of available songs to their name: also including an ambient cover of Slapp Happy’s 1972 single ‘Blue Flower’ and the lo-fi remnants of their ‘Chronic Youth’ EP.

“We definitely want to do an album, but don’t want to jump the gun, really. So we’ve been working on developing our sound quite a bit,” elucidates the vocalist, on the future of Paradise. “But if we had made one when we first thought we should make one, it probably wouldn’t have represented where we were planning on going. But there’ll definitely be a new full-length in the next year, or so. And there’ll be a few singles before then, I would think.”

Words: Jonathan Hatchman

Where: Dalston
What: Esoteric Dream-Pop
Get 3 songs: ‘Endless Wave’, ‘Blue Flower’, ‘Luella’ ?
Unique Fact: For one out of ten shows, one member will be replaced by a hologram. (A joke from singer Joseph Marshall, of course)

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