‘Saturday Night‘ is the first single from Major Parkinson’s fifth studio album, “Valesa: Chapter I.” And with this song, this eccentric musical collective returns with something of a paradigm shift – exchanging the dark vortex of “Blackbox” (2017) with bright sunsets and ocean boulevards.

‘Saturday Night‘ is a hedonistic technicolor blaze against the backdrop of a deranged skyline.

Marrying heavy philosophical questions with the playfulness of this pop anthem, Major Parkinson explores a paradox between the complexities of life and the simplicity of what we consume. This juxtaposition is highlighted throughout the song by the deep resonance of Jon Ivar Kollbotn’s enigmatic voice and the airy, glittery counterpart of Peri Winkle (Claudia Cox).

With this song, Major Parkinson weaves an intricate and synth-heavy tapestry that heralds a new direction for the band. Maintaining the darker soundscapes of their past, while introducing a new, more light-hearted sonic approach, they continue to exist at the very forefront of progressive rock and the ever elusive ghost of pop music.

“It’s something as paradoxical as a song about staying in the moment. How about that?”, says vocalist Jon Ivar Kolbotn.

“A synth anthem set in a disco of nuclear anxiety. In this day and age, life is passing before our eyes before we can grasp anything at all, and we become spectators in our own lives. Like confused, geriatric visitors in a wax museum. As time passes by, the past is becoming brighter and nostalgia is growing bigger. This is the backdrop of the song.”

Major Parkinson announces their long-awaited return with the new album “Valesa – Chapter I: Velvet Prison”, released on CD, vinyl, cassette, and all streaming platforms on October 7, 2022. The ever-evolving seven-piece has emerged from the primordial darkness of 2017’s “Blackbox”, into a neon haze of progressive synthpop/rock.

Having chased the ever-elusive Ghost of Pop music from the early days of their eponymous debut album to the present, the band has always thrived within a melodic core – often clad under a shroud of progressive experimentation. On “Valesa – Chapter I,” the shackles are off, the curtain pulled back, as their compositions extrapolate with new focus and invention. Not necessarily less intricate, but definitely more pop.

The new album features 17 meticulously crafted songs that explore new sonic territories, set to the political backdrop of the 1980s as they tap into the Zeitgeist of a period in human history that proved tantamount to shaping our world. From the halls of an abandoned American high school to the wine-stained head of Gorbachev — the album evokes an all-encompassing feeling of uneasy nostalgia, like humanity collectively looking back in time with a pair of cracked, rose-tinted glasses.

“Synth anthems set in a disco of nuclear anxiety.”, says vocalist Jon Ivar Kollbotn. “In this day and age, life is passing before our eyes before we can grasp anything at all, and we become spectators in our own lives. Like confused, geriatric visitors in a wax museum. As time passes by, the past is becoming brighter and nostalgia is growing bigger.”

The instrumentation is powerful and evocative. Guitars swell with subtlety as the bass and drums provide the groundwork for an explosion of synths as keyboardist, Lars Christian Bjørknes, takes center stage to create something wholly unique. Returning female vocalist, Linn Frøkedal, joins with the band’s very own Peri Winkle to compliment Jon Ivar Kolbotn’s enraptured vocals and guide us through the brightly colored maze of “Valesa – Chapter I”.

Weaving between nostalgia and failed revolutions, this album is a completely unique star in the soundtrack of 2022, offering you something that has rarely been done in any field of music.

Follow MAJOR PARKINSON on:
Facebook | Bandcamp | Website