Wry, tongue-in-cheek, and radiantly dynamic, Declan Welsh & The Decadent West’s “Parisian Friends” is a raw rush of feverish indie rock and projected insecurities.
“Parisian Friends” – Declan Welsh & The Decadent West
Parisian Friends’ is a song about being surrounded by cool people and feeling like you might not match up. It’s a fun, tongue-in-cheek tune that’s meant to be played live and jumped around to.
Wry, tongue-in-cheek, and radiantly dynamic, Declan Welsh & The Decadent West’s new single is a raw rush of feverish indie rock and projected insecurities. A dynamic surge of passion and suave polish coalesce as “Parisian Friends” explodes around the senses, shining a spotlight on one of Scotland’s freshest and most promising up-and-comers.
Parisian friends
I want Parisian friends
We won’t have to like each other
We will only pretend
Will you be mon ami?
Or just be
seen to be
Where we need to be seen
L’mode est le jeu baby If you know what i mean
Smoking camel blue
While we discuss camus
Didn’t mean to condescend
Oh my Parisian friends
Their palletes so refined
They can taste things with their mind
You can barely comprehend
Released June 17, 2021 via Frictionless, “Parisian Friends” is Declan Welsh & The Decadent West’s second release of the year and the latest single taken off the band’s forthcoming EP, It’s Been a Year (out September 2, 2021). The follow-up to 2019’s debut album Cheaply Bought, Expensively Sold, It’s Been a Year finds the four-piece of Declan Welsh (lead vocals, guitar), Duncan McBride (guitar), Ben Corlett (bass), Murray Noble (drums) further honing their unbridled, unhinged, and unapologetic brand of indie rock – capturing passion and youthful vigor in upheavals of sound and massive releases of feeling.
After unleashing the psych-tinged emotional overhaul “Another One” in May – a softer, yet still hard-hitting song that, in many ways, speaks to the pain we’ve all felt on some universal level over the past year – Declan Welsh & The Decadent West have given audiences a scream-out-loud anthem in “Parisian Friends,” whose nods to the French come from, as Welsh explains, a place of self-doubt and admiration.
“‘Parisian Friends’ is a tune that we played live on the last tour – it’s kind of about that insecurity that comes when my Scottish inferiority complex comes into contact with a city like Paris, where everyone looks incredibly cool,” Welsh tells Atwood Magazine. “It’s silly, really. All of it’s ridiculous, I’m making fun of myself. ‘Their palettes so refined, they can taste things with their minds.’ It’s laughing at that wee voice in your head that cares about being seen to be cool. Paris is really cool though, to be fair. But it could be ‘London Friends,’ or ‘Berliner Friends.’ We just happened to be in Paris.”
The French is deliberately ham-fisted, as it’s about trying to superficially present yourself as one thing, when you know that’s not who you really are.
“Parisian Friends” comes to a head in an explosive singalong chorus, where Welsh and the band let it all out in fantastic belts brimming with energy:
My Parisian, nah nah
Hey nah nah
Friends, nah nah
Parisian, nah nah
Hey nah nah
Friends, nah nah
“Musically, it’s kinda seeing how you can keep the same chords interesting with that quiet / loud dynamic going on,” Welsh adds. “But I’m not actually sure how useful me explaining what this song sounds like is… Listen to it. If it sounds like Enya to you, fair play. You’re as right as I would be about it.”
The band escalate to even greater heights on the second verse, as Welsh and co. dig their heels into that longing to look the part, feel the part, be the part – while nevertheless still feeling apart:
Coming straight from vogue
Looking chic in rogue
Oh is it rouge you say?
Ne parlae vous Francais
Je suis desolet
I am uh how you say
A simple philistine
I don’t even drink wine
But the way yous drink it
It makes me kinda think
That I could get on board with a nice Merlot
I’m always stimulated
Cos they’re so sophisticated
You know I would recommend
Oh my Parisian friends
Cinema noir et blanc
Le chiffre catra catra sanc
The address yeah i can send for my Parisian friends
A distinguished reputation
And a cultured conversation
Irresistibly raw, wry, and roaring, “Parisian Friends” is a bold and brash anthem ready to be shouted out loud.
Immediately reminiscent of Arctic Monkeys and, to a lesser extent, Catfish and the Bottlemen, Declan Welsh & The Decadent West have tapped a timeless foot-stomping, rip-roaring sound that makes their latest song feel dramatic, dynamic, and absolutely larger than life. Stay tuned for the band’s It’s Been a Year EP, and be sure to put these guys on your artist-to-watch lists: Theirs are the kind of searing lyrics and super-charged sonics that will channel your stress and tension, and leave you feeling refreshed, relieved, and ready to take on every moment.
You can depend on my Parisian friends
My Parisian friends,
Parisian friends
Yeah it’s probably pretty cool to have
Parisi–
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“Parisian Friends” – Declan Welsh & The Decadent West
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