Emerging from the creative crossroads of Ireland, the UK, and Ukraine, genre-blurring collective The Parachute Testers deliver their latest single, “A Sight For Sore Eyes”—a hauntingly beautiful preview of their debut album Halfway To Everywhere (September 2025). Melding folk’s raw intimacy with electronica’s atmospheric depth, the track is a sonic balm for weary souls, offering solace amid urban chaos.
Set against the gritty backdrop of a troubled city, the lyrics paint a vivid portrait of longing and reunion: “Awake in the city tonight, safer with you by my side / Murder it lights up the skies… God only knows how I’ve been counting down the hours.”
The band’s soaring female vocals (channeling the dreamy melancholy of Mazzy Star and London Grammar) float over a textured soundscape that bridges organic and electronic—acoustic guitars hum beneath shimmering synths, while Colm Mac Con Iomaire’s (The Frames) spellbinding strings add a layer of cinematic grandeur. It’s folk for the 21st century, where warmth and unease coexist.
The Parachute Testers—hailing from Wexford, Leeds, and Ukraine—are less a traditional band than a sonic collective, united by a love of exploratory, emotionally charged music. Their sound nods to Elbow’s widescale melancholy, Zero 7’s downtempo grooves, and The XX’s minimalist tension, yet feels entirely their own.
“A Sight For Sore Eyes” is a testament to their collaborative spirit—Irish folk roots meet UK electronica, Ukrainian resilience, and universal themes of love and survival.
A gorgeous, slow-burning anthem that lingers like a half-remembered dream. If this is a taste of Halfway To Everywhere, September 2025 can’t come soon enough.
