It’s rare in the Top-40 world that you can find an album with deep, profound meaning. Typically they’re just a string of singles with the same overall mood, but they often can lack the story behind it. Parjam Parsi, a talented multi-instrumentalist has spent his lifetime connecting with music. In his youth he learned the intricacies of the piano and since has continued to pursue a limitless knowledge of music and the instruments that make it so magical. His dedication to composing music that moves him has led him to releasing several bodies of work.
Season of Amnesia is the 2018 release from Parjam, showcasing some of his most raw work to date. Having not written any music since 2012, Parjam poured all of himself into the 2018 release. It was a time that Parjam was battling difficulties and used writing stories and poems as a way to cope. Long time friend and musician Jonathan Gasparian convinced Parjam to take pieces of those stories and poems and turn them into Season of Amnesia.
The result is an incredibly personal release that takes you into the mind of Parjam before 2018. Each song is heavy with emotion. The album opens with “Photophobia” which touches on the paralyzing fear of the light that Parjam experienced for several years. This track is sobering, managing to feel so heavy but freeing all at once. As Season of Amnesia continues on, that heavy, eerie feeling doesn’t go away.
Listen to Season of Amnesia by Parjam Parsi below
Though there are very few words throughout the album, you can feel every single emotion that Parjam felt. There’s such a strong connection to the instrumentations themselves that the emotion pours through each note. You can feel shame, desperation, hopelessness, and sorrow throughout each track. It’s something so incredibly powerful, to feel so moved without the lyrics to help guide you. But Seasons of Amnesia allows you to assign your own emotions to each song based on how the music makes you feel.
Parjam has proven that you can make something so powerful and profound, even in the darkest of times. There’s beauty and hope within knowing that, and that alone is enough to make this album special. You can listen to Season of Amnesia here.
