Parallel Play by Panama Wedding is the perfect example of what I call “popslop”. It brings out every single pop production trick in the book, to the point that all of the songs on this EP are functionally the same structure and length. On both “Uma” and “Trust”, the transition before the pre-chorus is the classic “drop out except for a drum hit”, and each one sounds slightly bigger than the previous one. The production is incredibly slick, with tiny little call-and-response synth lines and huge, poppy percussion. I put this on for inspiration all the time lately, and I’m always finding some new trick that I can apply in my own music.

And then there’s the lyrics. Here are the chorus and pre-chorus of “All of the People”:

For the last year, I’ve been off-and-on obsessed with the band Everything Everything. Their music tickles my brain in just the right way. Something about their lyrics always hooks me too, despite the fact that every album has some real head-scratchers (“fat child in a push chair” comes to mind).