Parker Millsap - Wilderness Within You

4.2

Rating

4.2/5

Flyctory.com Pros

Lovely range of songs
Good songwrting

After far more than one thousand Media Reviews on Flyctory.com, more and more artists are recurring. I very often enjoy to compare previous releases with new ones I am actually just writing. On 12th May 2023, Parker Millsap is releasing his new album Wilderness Within You. This is about two years after my review of Be Here Instead. Let’s see which album I prefer.

Parker Millsap – About The Artist

Parker Millsap is a US rock artist from Purcell, South of Oklahoma City. His music is typically influenced by country and blues elements. Some more bio can be found in the Be Here Instead review.

Parker Millsap – Wilderness Within You – Track by Track

The 13 song album lasts 48 minutes.

1. Greetings and Thanks (Haudenosaunee Thanksgiving Address)

Greetings and thanks
To the Earth and Sea
Greetings and thanks
To the herbs and tree
To the fishes and to the animals
To the birds and their songs
Now we are one

The first song is already a great listen. Just Parker Millsap and his guitar in a very intimate, almost prayer-alike song. Intense opener.

2. What You’ve Shown Me

After this atmostpheric song, What You’ve Shown Me is much louder, more present. A guitar strummer, in which Millsap is also going for a rather powerful and determined vocal performance. Nice mixture of Americana elements and a touch of rock’n’roll.

3. Running On Time

Running On Time is opening a block of two previous single releases. The very present drumming leads to a certain level of monotony. This reminds of the prayer-alike character of the opener.

4. So Far Apart

The second single release, So Far Apart, starts with a very frequently looped intro theme for some thirty songs. It takes a while until this over minute track unfolds its full character. To me, this feels a bit too long, unfortunately.

5. Front Porchin’

The very groovy Front Porchin’ unveils its country music heart from the very beginning. Ain’t that a title which simply demands to have some boots-and-hat vibes? Nicely done.

6. Keeping The Love Alive

Again, Parker Millsap is working with sounds and is working on creating a perfect atmosphere. This may be feel a bit verbose here and there, but it is overal done at a really decent level of quality.

7. Finding Out

The seventh song is just sing a very limited set of instruments and arrangement. Despite just being a two minute listen, this leads to a very personal touch and leaves a mark in the memory of the listener. One of my favorite.

8. Half A World Away

Wow, that’s quite a difference. After the rather slow and quiet Finding Out, Millsap is going for rock power in here – and even adds some nice electronic sounds and distortion to Half a World Away. Quite a contrast of style when you listen to the album in sequential order – but also a very impressive performance.

9. If We Would Let It

I finally wrote this review on board a plane. The rattling sounds in the intro scared me, as I initially thought they are caused by the flight equipment. That’s the only scary fact about the ninth, even though you cannot deny a certain level of depressive feelings and melancholy in here.

10. Wilderness Within You (feat. Gillian Welch)

The album is full of contrasts. In this collaboration with Gillian Welch, Millsap again shows a very positive, melodic song. The style of the ditty Wilderness Within You is somewhere in between of country and folk. The addition of the female vocalist turns this one into one of the most beautiful listens of the album.

11. Magic

Magic has a very present bass groove. The other elements of the song are arranged around it. Sometimes they feel a bit too shy to me. Nonetheless, the song has a nice touch on the instrumental side.

12. By and By

The twelfth song is again a bit of dark and heavy. I like the vocal performance in By and By, though. It is just on point and in line with the atmosphere of the track.

13. I’ll Be Around

Having a rather harmonic touch (the song even feels a bit of kitschy in the context of the album), I’ll Be Around feels to be the perfect song before Wilderness Within You is closing its doors. Another nice fact about the song is the way it is presenting its key message.

Parker Millsap – Wilderness Within You – Spotify

Here is the album on Spotify:

Parker Millsap – Wilderness Within You – My View

Parker Millsap presents a lovely range of songs. His 2023 album is rocking, gentle, narrative and energetic. Sometimes, I would love him to push a bit harder emphasizing the message of the songs.