After whetting appetites with a teaser a few weeks ago, ‘Black bohemian’ Alex Parvenu has new music out. His debut single ‘It Wasn’t Me’ depicts Mr Parvenu romancing a young lady – ‘a preacher’s baby‘ – only to be met with fierce disapproval from her pious father. With gospel instrumentation, including a swirling B3-organ and an energetic horn section, the song smacks of Parvenu’s soulful, retro influences. But the end result is something mischievous, carefree, and distinctly contemporary. ‘Does he know we’re making love while listening to Marvin?‘ Parvenu sings with fresh and clear tone. Parvenu’s EP Blue Summer will be out in 2019. Read our exclusive interview below! 

Interview

Following our last chat, I sat down with Mr Parvenu to chat about ‘It Wasn’t Me’. He wrote the song three years ago. Inspired musically by The Temptations’ ‘My Girl’, the song’s chord progression came first, followed by lyrics, and then the chorus. I ask him about the origin of the lyrics. ‘I can’t pinpoint it to myself ever having been in a situation with someone else’s dad, but certainly with my friends.’

As always with Mr Parvenu, one has to do some pushing. He does reveal that he once dated a girl whose father was a pastor. ‘When I found out her dad was a pastor, that was my “bye, see you later!”’ I pose the idea that he preempted the scenario described in ‘It Wasn’t Me’. He agrees, but also concedes a hidden message which he refuses to divulge despite my best efforts. ‘I’ll probably go into it in the future.’ In addition to songwriting chops, Mr Parvenu has a frustrating enigma which is annoyingly effective.

I switch tack and ask him about the process of composing and recording the song. It had a ‘journey’ in his own words. ‘Originally it didn’t have horns in it. We added horns later. Then it got mixed in Michigan. The original was very stripped, just piano and organ. Then we added guitar, then bass, drums, the horn section was brought in, and backing vocals too.’ He describes trying to capture the gospel quartet sound, reiterating that being in a gospel choir as a child continues to have a ‘huge bearing on how [he hears] music.’

When discussing his vocal performance, he spills about his perfectionist tendencies. I ask him whether it was a short take. ‘No ‘cause I’m never satisfied. Someone like Aretha Franlin can go in and just go “bam”… I play around with the melodies and with the phrasing… I sometimes wear a ‘producer’ hat… I always approach it as a producer rather than a performer, which is not always a good thing.’ Indeed, Mr Parvenu operates by the mantra that a song is never finished. In fact, he is already working with producer Chevi JReid (Nicki Minaj) on two remixes of ‘It Wasn’t Me’ to be released next year.

He takes particular pride in the animated music video, which he storyboarded and directed himself. Animated versions of the soul music greats who inspired him feature in the video, including The Temptations, Carlos Santana, and Parvenu’s uncle Francis Fuster who played percussion on Paul Simon’s seminal Graceland album.

In addition to other musicians and celebrities (Kanye West, Kim Kardashian, Amy Winehouse), the video has subtle references woven in. He pokes fun at the lawsuit between Marvin Gaye’s estate and Robin Thicke, Pharell Williams, and TI for their song ‘Blurred Lines’ (the song was alleged to have plagiarised Marvin Gaye’s ‘Got To Give It Up’). The police officers who chase Mr Parvenu and his girlfriend are dressed as pigs, a reference to police brutality against the African American community. He promises there are more ‘Easter eggs’ hidden in the video. ‘I’ll do an interview one day where I really break things down.’ 

While I try and slowly chip away at the enigma, I’ll leave you all with the video for ‘It Wasn’t Me’.