REVIEW: Get a Glimpse of Pictoria Vark's Perspective On Life In New Album "The Parts I Dread"
Victoria Park, aka singer/songwriter/bassist Pictoria Vark, has lived a life of constant motion. Raised in NJ, Vark saw her parents move to Wyoming while attending college in Iowa city. In addition to her experience as a touring musician, her upbringing lends to her perspective of people and place that is unusual but compelling. On her debut album “The Parts I Dread” she explores “home” as a multidimensional concept - scouring locations, personal relationships and her inner self for a sense of comfort and familiarity.
While Vark exists in a generation of unprecedented musical access, her influences seem to be more decidedly old school. She eschews overcomplicating her sound and instead prioritizes melody and message like classic folk-rock writers such as Joni Mitchell. On this record, “home” is rarely a constant. Places and faces shift constantly, fading and appearing to and from obscurity like watching a landscape through a car window. Opener “Twin” accentuates a feeling of change with Vark describing the experience of growing apart from a twin sibling. The lyrics of the song are intimate and increasingly somber, culminating in a distant wave from the rear-view window of a tour bus. The twist here is that Vark does not actually have a twin, however, the irony of feeling space growing between someone who is genetically identical to you is constant and nagging. The track itself is sparse. A melodic bass motif provides a foundation for her soft, ethereal vocals with some occasional guitar harmonics for color.
Second single “Wyoming” sees Vark commanding a full band. Palm muted guitars support her groovy bass leads in the verses where she sings about her difficulty adapting to change in the wake of her parents move from New Jersey to Wyoming. The chorus washes the listener in a thick, heavy layer of distortion like a wave crashing the shore in slow motion. Her words excavate memories, some tragic, some mundane like walking through a soon to be sold childhood home. She sings “Personal hell, Wyoming”.
Stunning album opus, “Out” opens with a dusty bass intro. Feedback washes in the background, waxing and waning reminiscent of Fleetwood Mac’s “Gold Dust Woman”. Vark’s voice is beautiful and haunting, a will-o-wisp smothered by wind and tumbleweed. Voice and bass reunite as she softly repeats, “I wanted out/this fucking house”. Her words are clear, concise and crushing. The track explodes in a dynamic conclusion, pounding like fists against a locked door. This cathartic culmination feels definitive where much of the album wades through the gray areas. While the power in the ending of this track feels like an outburst, Vark’s introspection caps in “Demarest” – likely named after the city in New Jersey. She croons, “There’s more to you than the parts I dread” over a gentle full band arrangement. All the introspection and time spent down memory lane throughout the record leads to this sentiment and ultimately, the album title. “You” can take any number of forms, whether it is her family, Wyoming, New Jersey or even herself – Vark’s reflection throughout the whole of her composition has led her to realize the good and bad of change is inseparable.
Simply put, “The Parts I Dread” is a beautiful listen. Vark’s strength as a songwriter and storyteller undeniably define her debut record. One particularly poignant moment comes halfway through the final track “Friend Song” – the bouncing acoustic guitars are interrupted by audio from what sounds like a friendly gathering. Despite her self-inspection, her issues with her family and with her transience, she has decided to end her album surrounded by sounds of friendly banter – indistinct but comfortable. While she might not stop searching, the bubbly ambiance along with the remaining lyrics of the track shows how much she values this connection. Whether it is in music, with family, with friends or within – Pictoria Vark shows that after all this time, home may still always be where your heart is.
