Parkwood Reemerges With New Single 'Illusion of Care' from Upcoming Blue Devil EP

In a triumphant return to Australia’s alternative music community, Parkwood has seemingly resurrected from their inactive status to release their first single since 2021’s ‘Screwdriver‘. New track ‘Illusion of Care‘ takes their spoken word-styled soundscape to a whole new level.

To all appearances, this exciting comeback single draws from multiple influences with it’s high tempo guitar riffs that ebb and flow between low-tuned chugging riffs to melancholic grooves that give’s vocalist Alec Wilson strong foundation to present his lyrical matter in a fierce manner as he indignantly expresses himself into the mic.

On the entire process of bringing this track to life, Parkwood explains:

“A benefit of writing lyrics is the knowledge that they can be interpreted in a variety of ways and perceived through different personal lenses. That said, ‘Illusion of Care’ ultimately has a through line that deals with the passing of time and what that can entail when frozen by inaction and an ingrained sense of hopelessness. Procrastination is extremely relatable, but perpetual inaction can lead you (in my experience) to internalise inevitable failure as your only possible reality. You accept a life in the void where you give up, understanding that you’ll never be anything more than what your self worth has led you to believe. I spent and still spend much of my time in that ‘void’. Time doesn’t stop, it keeps moving and you can get left behind. Isolation becomes a major factor, resentment and unwillingness to participate in particular social scenes for perceived lack of authenticity. When a bridge is burned it’s a lot of work to build another and man, it can be so daunting figuring out where to begin. Not only that, but how hard it can be to even bother starting to build. The thought of ‘Once this bridge is built, now I have to maintain it’ is a tough one in my experience.

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The song is a personal one and contains a motif of ‘a devil’ that will be explored further in our EP, Blue Devil. The last few lines deal with a point where I looked around at the things that used to amaze me and felt utterly alone and riddled with hopelessness. I thought, if there was any semblance of a worldly or universal force that has an inherent love or care, I wasn’t privy to it. In the absence of that, all I saw was the certainty of death.”

This is the first single from the group’s upcoming EP, Blue Devil, which is due for release on March 8th, which is bound to behold many more surprises for us to enjoy.

Words by Adam Rice

Steam ‘Illusion of Care‘ here

Parkwood – Blue Devil tracklisting

1. An Introduction To Guilt
2. Blackout
3. Educate, Emulate
4. Illusion of Care
5. Illusion of Care (Reprise)
6. Blue Devil