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Photo credit: Thomy

Parsa Sabet's BoyMan is the tale of an anti-system superhero torn between his childhood nostalgia and adult freedom. It's about being a anti-hero that fights being put in a box. Moulding himself into the image of a young, contemporary Prince, we've been in awe of Parsa Sabet's experimental sound. Wanting to know more, as always, we asked the visionary via email to walk us through BoyMan, track by track: 

1. don't panic:

‘don't panic’ explores the initial feeling of taking a risk. When you realise, you're all in, and it's too late to go back as you set foot on a new path. It's when excitement and panic coexist. It's a reminder to move forward, and to take it as it comes. It was written during a period of my life when I took a chance on something I was resisting for so long, and realised what was at stake.

2. stuck:

"stuck" is about a life never lived. A story never experienced, an adventure never taken, leaving you stuck in a quiet regret over past decisions. It's a deliberate forgetfulness against time. 5 different versions were made before the universe magically gave me this one on a random afternoon, while I was sitting in a boring room with no instruments around me.

3. checkmate:

It's about being paralysed by the system you're against, so much so that you start breaking the rules around it. Thus the title "checkmate" . The lyrics were mostly written around that, and how this life is bound to nothing and it's going to continue when we're gone. I wanted to contrast the lyrics with an upbeat sound, hence the sonic choices.

4. valery:

"valery" is built around a fictional character that embodies the rejection of the system and the refusal to fit into a predefined box. It personifies the feeling of not belonging, the tension between acceptance and self-definition, and the need to exist outside imposed roles. Valery is not just one person; she reflects a state many people recognize, and one we can all slip into at certain moments in life. The song went through multiple rewrites, including 4 different choruses. I finally started to scream nonsense, and it worked.

5. cloudy:

I wrote "cloudy" during a period of uncertainty over the risks I was taking in my life and career. I was about to move countries, go west and start a new life but I was hesitating because of all the attachments I still had. In the song, I state the fact that your beliefs don't necessarily save you from situations you put yourself in. "cloudy" was about my blurry vision about my future, and the fact that staying and adapting to the situation was making it worse.

6. no need to jump:

When I was in London, someone gave me a note they wrote on the spot on a piece of paper, it said "babygirl, you don't have to jump up for me to notice you". I built the song around it, over the context I had of this person and mixed it with fiction. 

I also love the name "Charlie" but for a girl, I feel like it's so badass and I thought it suited the song the best. 

7. violet:

‘violet’ is about a backhanded flirt. I made it while I was feeling on cloud 9 having accomplished absolutely nothing in my life during that period, and having people around me making me feel like I was already famous. I wanted it to sound like a nostalgic summer song that stays unresolved. Leaving you want more without delivering on it.

8. to the dearest:

It's a love letter, to the one you found, the one you lost or it can be both. It's closure, a story lived with no regrets or a take care letter. It made so much sense for this to be the closing song on the EP. It marks the ending of a chapter for me. and frankly it helped me move forward. Although, I have to say, whenever I listen to it or I sing it, a part of me still hurts.