The Electric Soft Parade are masters of reinvention. If you trace your favourite artists there can be said to be two groups, those who peddle and stick to a sound you love (think Oasis, the Strokes, Abba, – for example) and those that constantly twist and turn your perceptions of them and push their own abilities as performers and writers, whilst still somehow never losing their own inimitable traits (think Robert Wyatt, The Flaming Lips, Super Furry Animals). With ‘No Need To Be Downhearted’ the Electric Soft Parade root themselves as firmly in the latter category.
Most of us know that Tom and Alex White are from Brighton, that they pretty much put Brighton on the music map and that they’re tireless musicians, intent on breaking musical systems, formulas and public perceptions. Most of us also know that 2002 saw ‘Holes In The Wall’ (DB Records) released to great critical acclaim. Everyone loved it: the past and the future collided on one record, all the boxes were gloriously ticked, and the accolades (Q best new band award, Mercury Music Prize nomination) came rolling in.
The unceasing energy of these boys shines through in all their endeavors: both continue to play with Eamon Hamilton and Marc Beatty in funktry-punk-disco supergroup Brakes whilst contributing to a number of other Brighton-based projects, too: Alex recording and playing live with noise-harmonists Actress Hands, Tom providing drums for instrumental hip-hop collective Restlesslist. And now, with a brand new album of their own, they're at it again, this time as space-age power-balladeers and digital terrorist-rockers. The world is still their oyster.