'COWBOY DISCO': THE UNEXPECTED CONNECTION BETWEEN COUNTRY AND DISCO.

 In an interview with Spanish music website JENESAISPOP, published last week, Parcels talked about the term 'cowboy disco' and how it defines their latest album 'Day/Night'. 

Cowboy disco seems to be the defined genre for the band's second album (their first new project since their self-titled debut in 2018). The term alludes to a disco-funk sound and country or folk lyrics. In the interview, Jules gave as an example their single Theworstthing. The lyrics on this song are gloomy and moving, while the groove drives it to disco. 

Some of the feelings and lyrics on this album portrait a dramatic melancholic and sadness, that better relates with country and folk. 

What the term shows is the union of the two genres with an evident setting, Australia: Jules Crommelin says in the interview that this album was written before the pandemic, missing and remembering Australia while the band was in Berlin. The closeness to the countryside that exists in Australia drove Parcels to write the lyrics of the record. 

A similar idea has been given by Barry Gibb to describe himself as an artist. If you check Spotify's This is the Bee Gees playlist , you'll see a video where Barry talks about his Greenfields album. Everything on that album has to do with Australia and country music.

He defines himself as a country artist and collaborates with some of the biggest country artists (Jason Isbell, Dolly Parton or Miranda Lambert) to give a new touch to the Bee Gees classics. The title and the cover of the album are based on the landscapes that Barry used to walk in when he was a child in Australia. 

This leads to an inevitable connection between country and disco, which shows its  climax in the songwriting process, where the lyrics represent a different reality, where feelings, like melancholy, disenchantment and search for hope find their own space ;distant from the dynamic, danceable and joyful music. The contrast makes each genre complement the other one, creating a whole. The song turns into a dramatic piece. 

Cowboy disco shows the latest connection of both genres and makes us look to Australia and its closeness with the country genre,which is positioned to be the genre of some songwriters when they search for feelings.