After a week of checking the mail box for its arrival, the very first CD from Valley of the Giants, self-titled as Valley of the Giants, arrived today. I rushed immediately to rip it and listen to the album I’ve anticipated more than any other in recent memory.It’s not often that so many of my favourite artists come together to collaborate. In Valley of the Giants you’ll find members (former and current) of Strawberry, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, A Silver Mount Zion, Broken Social Scene, Shalabi Effect, Do Make Say Think, and Brokeheart. Each of those bands are high on my list of favourites, so you can see why I’ve been very excited about this album. You can read about my initial reaction to the news of this project here.
The packaging of this disc is simply stellar. The desert landscapes’ contrasting blues and oranges and the hand drawn artwork done by Louise Upperton are perfect companions to the music they envelope. It’ll be hard to miss this album when you see it sitting on the shelves of your local record store, and you’ll be happy if you don’t. Be sure to search for this album. It’s easily the best of the year.
“Claudia & Khaus”, the opening track, is a blissful instrumental that evokes images of wind swept desert plains much like those pictured in the album art. It seems to me to be a gentler take on the style of music produced by Godspeed You! Black Emperor and A Silver Mt. Zion (Sophie Trudeau is a member of both bands and Valley of the Giants).
Following is “Westworld”, the albums introduction of Deidre Smith’s vocals. She still has all the magic she had when she sang and wrote for Strawberry and Brokeheart. The lyrics are superbly written and inform the listener much about the story being told by this album. Deidre’s vocals are expertly performed, and are, as always, strikingly unique and beautiful. Matching Deidre’s masterful vocal performance is a exquisite sonic backdrop performed by the other masters involved in this project.
“Cantara Sin Guitara” has a distinct Mexican flavour that again evokes strong images of the west. A lonely horse ride comes to mind this time. This instrumental is rich and I’m especially impressed by the drum work.
“Beyond the Valley” is another instrumental track and brings forth a sense of torture and foreboding. It is build with subtle pieces that march to a satisfying and unique climax. It would fit perfectly as the soundtrack to great conflict.
“Waiting to Catch a Bullet” is ten minutes of sonic wandering that reminds me much of Shalabi Effect (Anthony Seck graces Valley of the Giants in addition to being a key member of Shalabi Effect). Full of churning sound and emotion, this is definitely the most nuanced piece to my ear.
“Whaling Tale” is a story set to music. The story is told by a man who seems to be French, possibly from Quebec, in the style you’d hear in any fishing village. It told the story of a whaling ship and its crew’s attempt to rescue a penguin that had escaped a pod of killer whales. It’s a sad story but there is also a beautiful nature to the gritty reality of it.
“Back To God’s Country” erupts after that sober tale into a dynamic five minutes of rising music followed by a further four minutes of bouying sounds. The latter sequence rolls with symbol crashes and a memorable bass progression.
The album ends with another performance from Deidre in “Bala Bay Inn”. It’s a beautiful and haunting end to the disc. Diedre’s vocals are airy and bring to mind spring thaws and breezes. The instrumentation is beautiful and as good as any piece on this masterful disc. The ending vocals and banter is certainly amusing. “If you’re smoking that shit, you’d better get your mind right.”
I hope it’s apparant that I completely love this album. It’s my new favourite after only one listen, and that should speak volumes. That hasn’t happened in years, and I’m very thankful to have this fantastic album to listen to. I only have one thing I would prefer to have heard, and that’s more vocals from Deidre. I’ll have to wait for her new project, The Squarewaves, to arrive in the coming months to hear more, I suppose. If you buy an album this year, I can not stress how much I believe it should be Valley of the Giants. I haven’t been this impressed by an album ever, and I’m sure you will also be thankful to have this one.