With the finishing touches of her forthcoming debut album fuelled by two packets of discount cookies from a certain supermarket, Sherri Parry is exhausted but happy to finish up four months in the studio.
With Leave the Flowers to reach our ears shortly, Sherri has so far given us a taste of the album with three unique alt-pop singles, ‘Greed’, ‘Rot’, and most recently, ‘The Pride Song’, which is performed on Ukulele.
“The third and last single to be released from my upcoming album ‘Leave the Flowers’ is one of my favourites of the 13 tracks on the album; The Pride Song,” Sherri explains. “It was written in 2017 when the world was still a little sharp towards us, and we felt that sting with such intensity – it encouraged this song to come to life.
“We still have a ways to go, but this song is such a release of that frustration. It’s a mixture of ‘F*$k you’, ‘F*&ck yeah’, and just a whole lot of loving. It’s such an incredibly feel-good track, you can’t help but sing and shout along with us. It’s an anthem,” she continues.
“The song has the shared voices of loved ones, who are also a part of our forever glittering community, in sing-along sections at the end of the track, which just made it so special for me. There’s a very welcoming, warm and loving feeling to the song that just makes you happy.
“It was unbelievably fun to create in the studio, incorporating all sorts of percussion instruments, yelling obscenities into microphones and clapping till out hands are tomato red. It was also the last song to be recorded with the full band, so we definitely finished with a very loud bang.”
As for the album, Sherri explains that the title, Leave the Flowers, is a lyric taken from the second single, ‘Rot’.
“I chose this to be the album title as the only link between the songs on the album is the nitty-gritty parts of love. And when you delve into the subjects of them you’ll see that most of their conflicts cant be solved with flowers. Heartache, the passing of loved ones, anger – Flowers aren’t enough. Sometimes they’re only a pretty looking bandaid that blinds us momentarily from reality,” she reveals.
“There’s also a lot of other meaning within the title, such as if you leave a flower to blossom from its own soil, it will flourish and grow and give life to even more. But if you pick it, you kill it. This is similar to how it can feel being a part of the music industry. Creation should be left to flower in its own time, and it’s own way.”
A nod to her last EP, Equal, released back in 2016 and plastered with colourful flora, Leave the Flowers highlights Sherri’s growth both professionally and personally, an evolution we can’t wait to hear on this blossoming album.
Sherri will launch the album for the first time at The Old Church on the Hill in Bendigo on February 8 with a full five-piece band backing, plus some special guests. Each member of the band will be showcasing their talents and will perform with at least three different instruments on the night. In true Sherri style, expect a lot of colour and even a twinkle of fairy lights on the night.
You can buy tix for this show at stickytickets.com