From the moment that his honey-sweet lead vocal enters focus in “Tickin’,” the passion in country singer Jeremy Parsons’ voice is simply off-the-charts awesome. “Tickin’” is the latest dispatch from the experimental country-rock singer/songwriter, and if you’d told me that it was a single from a more seasoned studio veteran, I might not have believed you solely on the strength of Parsons’ unvarnished adrenaline here. He demonstrates a skillset that isn’t common in the country music community, and through his powerful poetry and righteous industrial influence in the aesthetics of this piece, he offers a little bit of hope to an audience that has grown disillusioned with the status quo of modern Nashville.
This bassline is somewhat muted, but the muscularity in the main melody compensates for the lack of tonality in the bottom end. One of the benefits that “Tickin’” enjoys in having a limited bass is that it allows for all of our focus to be turned towards the vibrant vocal that Parsons dispatches with the sort of ease that was a trademark among some of his biggest influences in rock and country the same. The front end has enough weight to balance out any lack of depth anywhere else, but by and large, this is a well-rounded piece of music that isn’t devoid of instrumental texture in the least. Every element that is present here adds to the evocative nature of the music, which is something that I would like to see Parsons’ contemporaries in and out of the alternative country genre try to replicate in their own work sometime.
The percussion that forms the backing beat for Jeremy Parsons’ magnetizing serenade has just as much detail to it as any of the other parts do, and I would even go as far as to say that it’s responsible for more than most of the industrial rock tenacity that this track has from start to finish. The drums provide the quintessential boost in momentum for Parsons’ illustrious vocal in the chorus and kick off the song with an epic throttling that is hard to get out of your head once you’ve been exposed to it for the first time. This is one heck of a multilayered piece, and better yet, it doesn’t sound or feel the slightest bit complicated or overindulgent.
Country fans who want to add a little bit of pizazz to their autumn soundtrack would be wise to see what they think for themselves about this fascinating upstart singer’s latest single. Not only does Jeremy Parsons act the part of a contemporary superstar, but he genuinely has an “it” factor in his lyrical execution that makes him sound perfect for this chapter in country music history. The mainstream might have let us down in the last few years, but deep within the underground, artists like Parsons are starting a really hot trend in this genre that I believe will bring a much more diverse audience to their legendary scene, as well as the songwriters bringing it back to life. If “Tickin’” is a statement song about his hybrid desires, then to say that I’m very eager to hear whatever comes next might be too big of an understatement to make.
Claire Uebelacker