Briston Maroney - 'Paradise'
With his latest single ‘Paradise’, Briston Maroney cements himself as a pop force to be reckoned with.
Starting off in bedroom-pop fashion: bass driven, classic indie hand claps with a quirky, almost-fuzzy picked guitar pattern. This is soon integrated into a perfectly arranged yet distinct production, courtesy of the talented hands of Andrew Sarlo (Big Thief, Bon Iver). Add in some indie “o’s” and a whirling synth motif that felt ripped straight out of a Gamecube title’s main theme - ‘Paradise’ definitely seems the apt title.
Many of the summer indie-pop features are proudly on display here: driving melodic bass-lines, jangly guitars all sat on a compressed, tight sounding drum part. Not a second is wasted in this concise light-hearted anthem.
Its colourful music video serves as an appropriate accompaniment indeed; an open field with vibrant colours, as engaging as it is oddly familiar. A compelling mix of neon colours and flashing psychedelia cementing its status as a song clearly crafted for those endless days only found in the sprawling fields of your average festival.
Briston effortlessly avoids the lyrical trappings of the genre, instead finding the perfect place between cliche and comfort - all wrapped in a vocal sound that’s distorted yet warm.
“Well let me tell you something when you get to my age// Love is all you got so I mean it when I say that” twenty-four year old Briston sings. A choice bit of timeless wisdom from someone in their mid-twenties; a welcome and healthy acknowledgement of youth’s passing and no doubt a line that will age well into his back catalogue.
After opening for rock legend Jack White, Briston Maroney will be headlining Band on the Wall in Manchester this Wednesday, a feel-good show not to be missed if this single is anything to go by!
Words by Ashley Garrod
