Losing Sleep

Parachute: coming to a radio-station near you. Or at least, they should be. Losing Sleep is Parachute’s debut album, and it’s an album that pretty much ticks all the boxes. It’s an album that wouldn’t find itself out of place on a One Tree Hill soundtrack, but this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Parachute’s combination of pop beats and pianos – with rockier guitars bringing up the rear – makes for a record full of irresistibly catchy riffs and bouncy rhythms; never before has an album given such meaning to the phrase ‘foot-tappingly good’.

The sound is an eclectic mix of artists such as Matt Wertz, Delirious?, Gavin DeGraw, The Hush Sound, Maroon 5, Andrew McMahon – a style of mature pop; it is piano-based pop-rock at its best. Tracks such as ‘All That I Am’ and ‘Words Meet Heartbeats’ are liable to have even the most cynical of listeners jigging up and down in their chair, air-drumming, or running to find someone to bounce around and share a smile with. The lively, up-tempo songs will inspire energy in even the most lethargic of people. Other tracks such as ‘The Mess I Made’ and ‘She Is Love’ are slow, melodic ballads, guaranteed to find a memory in your heart to fit to; they’re the songs you needed when dealing with your first heart-break.

Parachute seem to have jumped out of nowhere with Losing Sleep; an American quintet from Charlottesville, Virginia, the band’s members only graduated from college a short two years ago (2008), and have since been touring to promote their debut album. Soon after their graduation they found themselves headlining their own tours, as well as supporting big names such as The Script and Kelly Clarkson.

Following an impressive beginning on the music scene, one sceptical question lurks over Parachute; will they be able to conjure up an equally impressive second album? Or will they fall into a genre of textbook American teen-pop? Despite a debut album with more catchy songs than a Michael Jackson box set, there just doesn’t seem enough to push Parachute into a league of their own. Will the future see them mature and find a more original sound, or will they simply become a lost pop-rock band in the mires of the HMV ‘Rock and Pop’ section?

All this remains to be seen, but for now, whether you’re looking for chill-out music, inspirational music, bouncy music, pop music, rock music, back-ground music, fore-ground music, music to cuddle to, music to cry to, music to smile to… this is the album for you. Parachute: coming to a radio station near you. Or at least, they should be.