PARCELS 'LOVED' REVIEW

LOVED is out now!

Image: Drew Wheeler.

Parcels return with LOVED, a record that radiates both emotional honesty and unfiltered joy. It's an album that feels alive with contrasts: deeply personal yet unmistakably communal, reflective yet full of momentum. LOVED captures the sound of a band reconnecting not just with each other, but with the reasons they started making music in the first place.

Crafted in studios scattered across Berlin, Byron Bay, Sydney, Oaxaca, and Mexico City, the body of work is a far cry from the focused solitude of 2021’s Day/Night, which was recorded entirely in one location. This time, the band let space and geography play a role in shaping their sound. Each member brought their own compositions to the table, resulting in a collection that feels expansive yet cohesive. A musical meeting point of five individual journeys.

Parcels have long excelled at merging dance-floor-ready grooves with warm, funk-laced textures, and LOVED finds the band deepening that formula with a newfound emotional gravity. There's a compelling tension at play: buoyant, euphoric instrumentation underscored by lyrics that grapple with love’s ache. It’s longing, uncertainty, and emotional fallout. It’s in this push-and-pull where the album finds its most affecting moments.

The album doesn't shy away from complexity. It's buoyant and exuberant in parts, yet peppered with moments of introspection and emotional depth. Tracks like Yougotmefeeling set the tone early, delivering an effervescent surface layered with introspective undercurrents, while Safeandsound and Leaveyourlove reaffirm the band’s knack for clean hooks and polished arrangements. Elsewhere, Summerinlove introduces a dose of nostalgia and tenderness, offering a moment of stillness within the album’s forward momentum.

“It’s very internal for all of us, so personal and so deep, which is sometimes quite uncomfortable,” the band reflects. “But I guess that's what Parcels is — at least at the moment — all of us having that individual journey, then trying to make a space so we can funnel everybody's experiences into the same world and express it as a celebration.”

That sentiment is at the heart of LOVED. it’s not just a record, but a collective expression. There's a certain unity pulsing through it, not just among the bandmates, but extended outward to their listeners. It's music made to bring people together, even as it mines deeply personal ground. The album feels like a band willing to step further into vulnerability. It’s celebratory, but never shallow. They are unafraid to let the gloss crack in favour of emotional honesty. In doing so, Parcels craft something more personal, more resonant, and ultimately more human.

LOVED is out now!

PARCELS 'LOVED' AUSTRALIAN TOUR :

Tickets

Fri 28 Nov – Riverstage – Brisbane

Thurs 4 Dec – Sidney Myer Music Bowl – Melbourne

Sat 6 Dec – Sydney Opera House Forecourt – Sydney - SOLD OUT

Sun 7 Dec – Sydney Opera House Forecourt – Sydney