This week London newcomer PARKER has released her debut EP, The Life Illusion, via Killing Moon, of which we shared the dark-pop tune ‘High’ a couple of months back. Now we’d like to draw your ears back to PARKER and more specifically to ‘316’, an almost five-minute track of clashing sounds, brooding vocals and questioning statements which stands as a stark contrast to much of the substance-lacking pop music we’re inundated with these days. Speaking about the EP, the UK-based Australian says that “This EP is a collection of songs I wrote when I first moved to London. I worked on them in the studio with Rupert Lyddon and it was the first time I’d ever been in a proper recording studio. They are a reflection of that time in my life and my thoughts and nostalgia around growing up in Australia and then leaving.” It’s no wonder that so many of these tracks, ‘316’ included, centre around PARKER’s search for connection, and feelings of isolation and fear. For example, on this track she sings “can’t satisfy, / we’re terrified, / that the life we live, / won’t be our own.” Battling against this worry, this 21-year-old musician very much takes matters into her own hands with this dark-pop gem. - Hannah Thacker