Paralyse Me Where I Stand is the second single from (and released in anticipation of) the upcoming album, Hope in a Jar, from UK-based alternative indie folk artist Flaming June. Inspired by the sounds of First Aid Kit, LadyHawke, and PJ Harvey, Flaming June creates the perfect storm of a frenetic fast paced song laced with overwhelming emotions that represent the panic within “fight-or-flight mode.”
Opening up with the sound of a whispering guitar and an echoing voice, we are quickly transplanted from an eerie place of uncertainty and unknown, into a need to run away from the danger in surrounding us. Before we know it, an assertive drum line with a mesmerizing harmonic vocal line warns us of the situation, and the troubles to come with little time to find a safe way out.
It’s a song full of interesting musical points: from a solid band full of vocals, strings, and a deep and pronounced percussion, to mystical effects that fly around in the background of the chorus, giving hope to the scary situation, Paralyse Me Where I Stand focuses on the intention and the emotion coming across through the background just as much as it does the foreground, making sure we’re checking behind our backs every few seconds as we run away from the “psycho killer” coming towards us.
The song also has the great quality of moving us into a completely different soundscape in the second half, reminding us that there’s change in scenery and in feeling in the midst of a panic, everything ebbs and flows, everything can change, everything can be better. It’s a complex piece, worth listening to in the midst of a hard time, or any time at all.
Written by Yannick Mirko
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