VALLEY - LOST IN TRANSLATION
credit: becca hamel
Indie-pop outfit Valley have been rapidly building a following since their first album, This Room Is White. Three albums later, Lost In Translation shows the same characteristic tone which Valley demonstrated when they arrived on the scene, but with an increased polish and quality of production and hook-writing which leaves few songs without something which will get stuck in your head.
There’s no consistent profile of a Valley song to be simplified on Lost In Translation, as they take favourable facets of genre after genre in each track whilst maintaining a consistent Valley undertone for comfort.
The title track, ‘Lost In Translation’ takes facets from pop-punk with crunchy guitars and a spoken word singing style which is reminiscent of Owl City’s Adam Young and creates a dreamy, somewhat nostalgic tone.
Describing receiving messages from an unknown contact from his past, Valley’s singer, Rob, shares emotional thoughts despite upbeat ambling riffs. “Do you really feel like dying, does it cause you pain?” is asked in a message, “I was crying when I wrote that line” he interjects later.
The first single to appear on the album ‘Throwback Tears’ is an impressively restrained pop song. Absolute confidence is shown in Rob’s lead vocals as little more than a drum beat, synthesised strings, simplistic piano, and very occasional backing vocals are given as accompaniment, leaving the vocals to lead the track – and rightfully so, as the stripped back instrumentation and focus guarantees that the melody behind the lyrics will be on repeat in your mind for the rest of the day.
‘Natural’, following hot on the heels of ‘Throwback Tears’, shares the sensation of an easy romance, “like country in Nashville / Baby, we’re natural.”
‘Natural’ has no technical flaws, but alongside the other singles on the album struggles to stand out. The restraint which in ‘Throwback Tears’ instead leaves a longing for pace to heighten and continue with the momentum which Lost In Translation has been building to this point.
Lost In Translation takes several songs to slip into the heartbreak side of romance, ‘Have A Good Summer (Without Me)’ sits cleanly in the middle of the wishing-you-well to angry-breakup scale, demonstrated with lines ranging from “If I’m not right, then go find the one / Whatever’s gonna make you happy / have a good summer without me” to “if you fall fall for somebody new / do everything that we used to do / I hope you’re fucking thinking about me / have a good summer without me.”
The full spectrum of romantic experience is shared as ‘We Don’t Need Malibu’ is reached, basking in the experience of a lazy day in a romantic relationship. Guitars, drums and synthesisers are muted, little more than their lower frequencies piercing through – like the world is trapped outside of the room Rob sings about.
Between the singles tracks such as ‘Break For You’ and ‘I Haven’t Seen You In Forever’ stray deeper into the pop side of the Valley soundscape, but are then offset with cinematic moments and experiments in vocal and musical texture which remind the listener of a deeper vision flowing through the album – such as in ‘i thought i could fly’ and ‘Keep My Stuff’.
Valley continue with their will to experiment in Lost In Translation, testing out elements of a range of genres, Rob using the full range of his voice from sweetness to fury to heartbreak; using effects and frequencies in their tracks in unexpected ways to put a definitive Valley stamp on every track and remove any chance of an accusation of them making simple indie-pop.
Nicholas Roberts
★★★★☆