Arliss Parker - Handsome Like a Lion

Arliss Parker - Besos

Arliss Parker - Oh My

Arliss Parker - She Smiles When She Sleeps

Autumn is my favorite season. There’s just something beautiful and nostalgic about the falling leaves and summer fading into winter. It’s a season of change, a reflective season. One of my favorite things to do every year around this time is to make a mix CD called “The Scent of Autumn,” and I get really excited when I find new songs that sound like the season, which is exactly what I thought of when I first heard Handsome Like a Lion by Arliss Parker.

It’s easy to get lost in the six-song EP, which is a perfect mix of electronica and folk. Arliss Parker was formed when guitarist Chris Parker moved from Colorado to New York, converted an abandoned room into a recording studio and started adding new and interesting electronic elements to his acoustic pieces.

Even if you aren’t into instrumental music as much, these songs will keep and hold your interest, especially “Besos” with its rhythmic acoustic guitars, its simple, yet uplifting drum beats, the soaring lead guitar part…all of the instruments are layered upon each other in perfect harmony. There’s also the heartbreakingly reflective “She Smiles While She Sleeps” that says so much without, of course, using words. Again, in this song, as on the whole EP all of the instruments compliment each other so well, as Arliss Parker blends the old and the new, acoustic folk music and electronic beats and keyboards. My only complaint is that it was too short, and I was disappointed when it was over. But I guess a good EP will always leave you wanting more. If you like Sigur Ros or El Ten Eleven, you will definitely love Arliss Parker (or if you enjoy thought-provoking music or songs that sound like autumn).

Arliss Parker on DAG! Records

Arliss Parker Myspace