Premiere: PARACHUTER’s “Trouble Talking” Is an Upbeat Portal into Another World

“Trouble Talking”, the debut single from Wesley Jensen’s new project PARACHUTER, is an example of the endless possibilities that can come from creating in one’s own company.

Stream: “Trouble Talking” – PARACHUTER

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Wesley Jensen is refreshingly restless when it comes to making music because, rather than maintaining one safe sound, he continues to reinvent in the form of different names: The quiet folkiness of his solo work (circa 2011) and the buoyant 60s glazed pop of Wesley Jensen and The Penny Arcade (2018). Now the Texas-based singer-songwriter has returned with his latest creation, a vibe-driven, synth-based exploration that takes the sunshiny dreaminess of The Penny Arcade and elevates it in the form of psychedelic synths and pathways into the imagination.

I don’t have a lot I can say
I’ve tried every kind of way that I could think of
But every time the right words show their face
they only seem to move on as fast as they came

Trouble talking, having trouble talking

Trouble Talking cover art- PARACHUTER — Trouble Talking- PARACHUTER

Atwood Magazine is proud to be premiering “Trouble Talking”, the debut single from PARACHUTER. Beginning with an instant bouncing of happiness and gentle flowing vocals, the song emphasises the optimistic escapism that can come with songwriting. “Give me a pad of paper and a piano and I have a million things to say but in the real world I struggle to find the words often times,” Jensen tells Atwood Magazine. “I’m horrible at small talk and entirely non-confrontational, so particularly in those situations, I’m basically useless. Or at least it feels that way”

Lyrically, “Trouble Talking” addresses this situation directly. ‘If I had a world I could lean on/ I could find myself in a better situation’, Jensen sings in the second verse over a bed of drums, taking centre stage before the fluttering melody whisks him away. ’But for now in any confrontation/ My head is playing elevator music I could sleep on.’ Sonically the song feels like the white fluffy clouds looked up at when seeking a desperate form of guidance but it’s also got the subtly psychedelic touch of another world to take refuge in when reality gets tiresome. The accompanying video highlights this. Simple snapshots of scenes in a summer’s garden- tinted sky, close-ups of flowers, a gnome stood in mud, a slow-moving slug, deers in a garden- create an intimate relationship with nature in its most vibrant form. It’s about using one’s surroundings to be transported somewhere else.

For a second there I didn’t know
I thought I had something to say, but I don’t
For a second there I didn’t know
thought I had something to say but no, no, no
And if I don’t wanna talk about it, I won’t

“Trouble Talking” is the first in a new line of songs for Jensen. As he tells Atwood Magazine, “This song was really inspired by a desire for musical exploration and searching for a brand new sound. I felt as though my music was really starting to lean toward this type of direction and rather than shifting gears under my own name again, it made sense to start fresh and give it it’s own platform which I felt it deserved.” The name then is perhaps appropriate, as though leaping from restrictions while the hurtling movement of uncertainty is slowed down with the aid of a gliding ease. “I never really felt like I was doing what I actually wanted to before, and this new project is precisely what I want to do right now,” Jensen continues. “I’m excited about it! There are more tracks coming (4 finished, 5 being mixed and 2 that I just wrote) but this is a special track because it was the first track, the one that started it all. I really needed a song to build my new project around, to help create an identity, and I’m happy that this is the one.”

PARACHUTER, although featuring collaboration in regards to additional instrumentation and production, is an entirely independent project. It’s bedroom pop in approach, using one’s own space to create additional worlds. For all the introverts out there, or those that are prone to experiencing awkwardness in social situations, “Trouble Talking” is relatable. It’s the happy, whimsical goings on that occur when not involved in conversation, the embracing of a wandering mind and the keeping of feet above the ground. As a result, it’s a fitting introduction into a new journey.