Following the release of “Happy Birthday Forever” and “Brexit At Tiffany’s”, Tess Parks has returned with single and video, “Do You Pray?”. The track, follows years of touring and collaborations with Brian Jonestown Massacre’s Anton Newcombe in recent years (most recently the duo’s self-titled 2018 LP), the track is the third to be lifted from her incoming solo album, ‘And Those Who Were Seen Dancing’, due out May 20th on Fuzz Club Records and Hand Drawn Dracula in Canada.

Recorded over two years between 2019 and 2021 but with songs, lyrics and ideas dating back over a decade in some form, the incoming ‘And Those Who Were Seen Dancing’ is an album full of moments, people and places. Taking constant inspiration from interactions with those around her, ‘Do You Pray?’ is a perfect case in point. On the track, Parks recalls: “My friend Annie just asked me one day out of the blue, ‘Do you pray?’, and I thought, ‘Wow, yes I love that and yes I do, every day.’ The song is a mix of two traditionals: ‘My Bonnie Lies Over The Ocean’ and ‘When the Saints Go Marching In’. This is one of a few songs on the album where my dad can be heard playing my grand-fathers old piano.”

Describing the video, she adds: “​​Mark Wagner is seen whirling like a dervish, a sacred dance derived from the ancient Sufi practise, ritual and meditation of the ‘Sema’. The dance is trance and euphoria-inducing and offers a sense of connectedness and expansiveness among many other virtues. I have been a fan of Mark Wagner for years now. I can’t even remember how I came across him, but I would always watch his videos and be absolutely mesmerised.

I messaged him late last year and asked him to dance in this video and I said he could choose wherever he wanted to in the whole world to film it. Our correspondence was no more than a few e-mails back and forth, not even a phone call. He sent me this video and I was actually speechless. Not only had I been unaware that he was based in London, but we had shot outtakes for the 2018 album cover with Anton [Newcombe] at the exact location that he had chosen. Mysticism at its finest!”

Pre-order AND THOSE WHO WERE SEEN DANCING by Tess Parks HERE