Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

An equal match in any environment is one to savour, two prize fighters of equivalent prowess slugging it out in the ring, two suns casting their warmth with similar results on the planet and people below, an equal match is more than just resemblance, it is the way we appreciate the Parallel and hold it up as an example of twin virtue and excellence.

To find your soul mate and lover is a constant endeavour that is worth every ounce of effort exerted, and yet it seems we don’t put in the same energy to finding the one who will push our artistic or creative side to the point where it matches theirs, always somewhat unequal, one being stronger than the other, a beautiful sound but always one that feels slightly off balance.

For White Little Lies’ Vanessa Murray and Daniel, the road travelled to the point of delivery may have been one of winding routes, different paths and the odd signpost throwing confusion to the whereabouts of the next moment that the finding of the perfect companion was to lead but as their E.P. shows, it was, like finding artistic love, worth it.

The four songs on Parallel are amongst some of the richest, most determined and poised songs to have hit the senses in the last year, each one raises the hairs on the back of the neck with pleasure, with longing, a heightened sense of awareness by the pair which cannot, and should not, be visualised by the listener as anything other than rare, dignified, splendour.

If These Walls Fall Down, Hurricane, Everything Is Gonna Be Alright and the E.P. title track, Parallel, all contain that one beast of burden tamed, the drive, unseen, untouched by the multitude, and its origins never truly understood, to bring the finest moment to the audience. We all want to do our best but whether guided by the host of the extraordinary or the sheer will of the unexplained, there are occasions in life, even maybe just the one, where everything comes together as if decreed by that one shining belief of being in tune with someone, being Parallel.

White Little Lies have a lifetime to be at the top of their game, Parallel is just a stepping-stone along the way but it is a big one, giant, and all the more remarkable.

Ian D. Hall