Vera Blue continues her sonic evolution with the release of Parallel Desire, a dark, ethereal exploration of unrequited longing and the shadowy side of love.
Building on from her previous single In The Corner, her new release sees Vera Blue at her most commanding and expressive, with soaring vocals moving through a soundscape of choirs, ghostly strings and haunting electronic production.
Described by Vera Blue as “a ghostly prayer in a cathedral”, Parallel Desire captures the tension between innocent craving and desperate obsession.
Written in LA with Lucy Healy (FINNEAS, Madison Beer, Renee Rapp) and brought to life by long-time collaborator and producer Ross James with Grammy-Award winning mix engineer Eric J Dubowsky (Dua Lipa, Flume, Tove Lo), Parallel Desire and is steeped in emotional honesty and sonic detail.
“Parallel Desire is about craving someone so deeply it almost feels predatory, yet at its core, it’s innocent, just desperate to be felt back. Lucy Healy and I wrote Parallel Desire in LA, unravelling this dark, twisted desire, and Ross James brought it to life with subtle electronic production that feels like the heavens are opening and swallowing you whole”, she says.
Live strings performed by a close friend adds a raw, human element that deepens the emotional pull.
“As a violinist myself, I’ve always dreamt of weaving live violins into my music, and to finally watch it unfold in real time was so special. There’s something about the raw sonics of a live violin, the way it breathes and cries, that brings an entirely different dimension to a song. It felt like the track came alive, almost like the strings were echoing my own voice back to me in this ethereal, ghostly harmony”, says Vera Blue.
Thematically, Parallel Desire explores the uncomfortable truth of how desire can sometimes twist us into dark side of love, the complex discussions about control, manipulation, even with innocent intentions. Bringing these themes to life in the official video, is director ARIA Award-winning Grey Ghost (Troye Sivan, Tones & I, Ruel) who also was behind In The Corner clip.
In the end, Parallel Desire resonates deeply as a confessional, a release and ultimately a surrender. As Vera Blue puts it “there’s pain in letting go, but also relief. You no longer have to fight for something that was never yours. “
Parallel Desire follows the release of In The Corner, a track that embodied the spirits of Ray of Light-era Madonna, 90’s Bjork and haunting dreampop pioneers Cocteau Twins. As the first taste of Vera Blue’s new body of work, the single was championed by triple j, with Rolling Stone Magazine praising it as “a bold sonic shift for the artist.”
While fans wait for news of live shows and national tours, tomorrow will see Vera Blue perform the National Anthem at the Telstra AFL Grand Final in front of a crowd of 100,000 at the MCG and a viewership of over 4 million.
With thanks to Island Records Australia
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