Line-up

With Mexican Standoff and The Trees That Whisper Parson Brown had two moderate hits in 2008 and 2009 in both the Netherlands and France. Now the band are back with a new album, a new band member and renewed enthusiasm. Does My Heart Look Big In This?, as the album was named, will be released at the 1st of March, 2011. It marks a new era in Parson Brown's history.

On The Farewell State, the band's acclaimed debut album, one hears a band still in the middle of discovering themselves and their potential. Does My Heart Look Big In This? reveals a confident, grown-up group of people who know exactly what they can do and what they want. It turns out to be an awful lot!

Folk rock romanticism is what Parson Brown call their own tiny spot on the musical map. Which really means they combine the craftmanship of songwriting from folk with the energy of rock, and with warm, rich arrangements and orchestrations. In order to enhance their rich sound, a seventh band member was recruited recently. Barrie Snijder, in his own words, feels comfortable on 'anything with strings', though within Parson Brown he mainly plays uitar (electric, acoustic, classical, slide) and ukelele.

Parson Brown were founded six years ago when Danny Gordijn and André van Arnhem were assembling a band to play their songs. In the years before they had written, recorded and arranged numerous songs. A lot of these songs were revived by Parson Brown, although new songs kept being written constantly. 21st Century Music, the record label of radio DJ Erik de Zwart, liked a lot of them and released the band's 2008 eponomous debut album. Mexican Standoff and The Trees That Whisper became moderate hits, both in the Netherlands and France.

The band's experience on stages and radio studios in both France and the Netherlands influenced Does My Heart Look Big In This? a lot. For the first time the band remained in total control during the whole process of recording and mixing. Because of this, the record seems to come straight from the heart. The lyrics expose traces of the though year singer/songwriter Danny had, as did bass player/producer André. But - as anyone who ever saw Parson Brown play live can acknowledge – the band enjoy playing far too much to play depressed music.

The first minute of opening song Hands Across the Sky captures the album's spirit peerfectly. My life as far as I can tell / Is a sad little mess / My quest of disappointing myself / Is my only success. Meanwhile the bass drum kicks in impatiently.