Toby Williams Recommends... Theo Parrish 'We Are All Gorgeous Monsterss'

Leland Music's Toby Williams recommends Theo Parrish, looking back at 'We Are All Gorgeous Monsterss' and how the six tracks result in an often upsetting document of Black experience. 

Theo Parrish occupied hallowed territory in my club-going days. In the 00s I’d preach his importance to friends - though admittedly it was sometimes a hard sell for those just looking for a good time (and fair enough - a Theo Parrish DJ set required a resilient ear, not to mention a whole night).

We Are All Gorgeous Monsterss raises the stakes. It’s a sprawling 150 minutes presented as six very long tracks, each one overflowing with ideas. There are sudden musical left turns, along with competing and often overlapping dialogue. The result is a woozy, exhilarating and often upsetting document of Black experience.

In terms of form, it’s closer to an abstract radio play or sound collage than an album. Musically it’ll be familiar to fellow acolytes: improvised melodies drift over jagged, unreliable rhythms. Phrases repeat and become euphoric through their repetition. Funk and soul as materials, hammered into something mechanical and dangerous.

But all this acts as support to the words. I can hear character performances, ripped conversations and speeches, Theo’s own shocking anecdotes… I’m sure there’s much more to find. It feels like a sudden release of ideas; related evidence of the same dreadful fact. It’s an essential but gruelling listen from a personal hero.