parent teacher - ETHEREAL COLLAPSE
PARENT TEACHER'S SECOND WARNING
Release date: 6 June 2024
Cassette tape released and available through Lonely Ghost Records (store).
DOOMERPOP!
If we allow Spotify to come up with silly new genres for their end-of-year-nonsense-playlists, surely we get to introduce one too.
Don't worry, ours makes a lot more sense and should stick! Doomerpop, a mighty great way to describe Parent Teacher's style on Ethereal Collapse. Yes, it's still Indie, and yes, also folky or electro-folky, and to be honest, we would allow you to classify it anyway you want... as long as you give it a listen.
From all of us at Wilbur & Moore headquarters: this album will make your day!
Artwork by Chris Bruyn
CREDITS
Big thanks to Michael Mendelsohn, Curtis L. Reeves Jr., 13 Pigeons - Swany - Cru Drums for your drums & jokes - Phaze Future - Phill Moffa - Kris Gillespie, and label family Wilbur & Moore and Lonely Ghost for your tireless support of DIY and all its gilded glory.
Cover art by Chris Bruyn
Cover art by Chris Bruyn
ABOUT ETHEREAL COLLAPSE
In 2023, Parent Teacher brought us “Impending Doom”, an album that shed light on our seemingly apocalyptic world with its blend of lo-fi woozy pop, drumbeats, and a touch of humor. It was a genuine warning with a wink, so to speak.
We’re living a year and a bit later now, and the world has progressed and regressed in so many unthinkable ways at the same time, leaving us in a hugely bonkers place no one could have imagined possible. By now his earlier warning to prepare for impending doom seems outdated, resulting in “Ethereal Collapse”, a doomerpop collection of songs which boldly explores the turmoil of our contemporary existence amidst a world descending into chaos. Drawing from a diverse palette of musical influences and problematic personal reflections, Parent Teacher constructs an intimate sonic space, fusing acoustic warmth with electronic depth and silky vocals.
While “Ethereal Collapse” is yet another, or perhaps even a more urgent warning that we should take the state of the world very serious and don’t let our guards down, in true Parent Teacher fashion it still effortlessly blends melodies of joy with dark undertones, skillfully fusing 90s grunge grit with elements of drum & bass, indie/punk, and folktronica. In the words of the maker himself, this album is a “poignant swan song echoing cursed tweets from a collapsing urban dystopia”.
Tracks like “Wall St” and “Invisible Hand” humorously dissect societal paradoxes with a dash of frustration and irony, while “Hero” effectively grounds the entire concept of heroes and “Murderahh” embodies the archetype of doomerpop with its sludge, morbid lyrics blended, creating a haunting landscape that mirrors the surreal chaos of our contemporary existence.
Parent Teacher is a New York-born songwriter who has been writing off-kilter pop songs for many years and releasing them with a variety of projects, but for this one he invites listeners into his own private world and mind. A combination of his own unique voice and a wealth of wide ranging influences, from DEVO to Blonde Redhead and from Arthur Russell to Squarepusher, allow his audience to absorb his songs in an equally personal way.
“Ethereal Collapse” follows Parent Teacher’s debut album “Impending Doom”, the single “Song for the Orca” (in collaboration with We Are Joiners) and his EP “Women & Children”.
“Ethereal Collapse” releases on 6 June 2024 through Wilbur & Moore Records and Lonely Ghost Records.
Lyric VIDEO FOR "HERO"
Artist photos
