Parallel Action :: Parallel Action In Dub – The Energy Center (World Wide Web)

Rooted in a lifetime of dub devotion sparked by childhood sessions of LKJ in Dub, Jude Greenaway’s Parallel Action project channels deep bass pressure and meditative space into Parallel Action In Dub – The Energy Center, a cinematic, system-ready album that reframes dub as modern sonic restoration.

Sound system as sanctuary

Jude Greenaway (ScanOne, Greenaway & Greenaway, Yellow Machines) has been a devoted dub music fan since childhood, listening to his dad spin Linton Kwesi Johnson’s LKJ in Dub on the turntable. That long-standing affinity for the genre is at the forefront of the seven-track, forty-three-minute sophomore album from his latest project, Parallel Action. Parallel Action In Dub – The Energy Center offers a modern, cinematic interpretation of the style that is both meditative and restorative. Call it 21st-century Dub therapy.

Parallel Action began under lockdown in 2020, with its self-titled 2021 debut delivering a collaborative, gritty, trip-hop-infused sound that played like a reel of trailers for dramatic cinema. In parallel — pun intended — Greenaway was composing these dub pieces like a grounding counterweight. The Energy Center takes its name from a building he would frequently stroll past, imagining it as a sanctuary for chilling and listening to dub music. This album effectively builds that space while doubling as a musical self-help guide to reaching dub nirvana.

Opener “Bask Dub” plays like the beginning of a hypnosis (Dub-nosis?) session: a repeated mantra, crisp beats, a heartbeat bassline, and sonar pings, all cushioned with ethereal synths and stretches of contemplative silence that coaxes the listener into its spell.

Next is “Lunar Dub,” a bouncy romp through a haunted wood under a full moon, gliding on a confident groove and bobbing bassline as ghostly synths and spooky FX swirl like exorcised demons. Its companion, “Fire Dub,” is a mountainous jungle trek on mushrooms, with echoing drum stabs building into stereophonic spirits as you move across kaleidoscopic terrain. The track culminates in a brief showdown between riddim and bass where, together, they spark fire. These tracks are twin soul-quests, facing fears and conquering them, dub-style.

Cinematic dub, system conscious ::

At the core lies “Energy Center,” a scene that unfolds like musical push-ups, where the warrior digs deep and finds the strength to persevere. A confident, authoritative pep talk offers “something for your mind, your body, and your soul.” Paced beats maintain resolve, bass pulses reassemble your bones with their electrified hum, and dark yet uplifting synths offer encouragement that recharges your metaphysical battery.

The album’s second half finds the spirit beginning to transcend the physical. The grunt work is done, and “Amber Dub” rewards with a cosmic mine-cart trip through inner space, where pickaxe beats, springy laser zaps, and bright, echoing piano stabs chip away as the bass digs deep to free the spirit from the corporeal. Jamaican spoken-word samples lend a rooted feel, unearthing a generational thread within the dub continuum.

“Rage Dub,” the briefest piece at eighty-nine seconds, serves as an aural shake-awake of echo-drenched percussion and skittering FX underscoring the command to “rage against the dying of the light.” It’s Parallel Action’s signal that the journey to full dub enlightenment isn’t yet complete. This is realized in the closer, “The Light Dub,” a twelve-and-a-half-minute magic carpet ride that serves as an ambient-infused summation of all that has come before. It’s the final rite of passage for both the listener — as well as their sound system — into Dub Valhalla.

The album succeeds as a release under the Parallel Action banner thanks to Greenaway’s keen ability to musically conjure focused, vivid scenes in the mind’s eye. Parallel Action In Dub – The Energy Center goes beyond homage, delivering a genuinely rewarding and ultimately therapeutic listening experience.

Parallel Action – In Dub – The Energy Center is available on World Wide Web / Human Recordings. [Bandcamp]