Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
The Universe may look tranquil, a perfect heartbeat capturing the pulse of the celestial band as they play for the fortunes of the mortals and creatures that scurry underneath stars and distant shadows; but there is always that beast that comes out of nowhere, the truth that is ready to be revealed in the form of a Supergiant, the object that takes up all of your vision and which is both to be feared and marvelled at in equal, stunning measure.
A Supergiant is an article of immense power and awe, one to which we find there is so much to understand but at times we cannot fathom the muse it provides, we have to look closer than normal, beyond our recognition of stars and the darkness that attempts to invade its purpose, and see for ourselves the message it is singing out to the cosmos, the influence and authority in which its speaks.
Vulnerability is a strength, the power to yield in song the sense of openness is superior in texture to the seemingly endless trials of over exaggerated confidence that can, if remain unchecked, become a liability. It is in the act of self-exposure, of revealing the feelings, naked, raw, uninhibited, that gives Valley’s Queen’s front woman Natalie Carol her sincerity, the belief in the listener that sees the Supergiant that she and her band mates have created loom large and dominate the aural sky created.
Through moments of absolute triumph and glorious sensation such as Chasing The Muse, Gems and Rubies, Boiling Water, Carolina, Ride and the album’s title track, Supergiant, Natalie Carol, Neil Wogensen, Shawn Morones and new drummer Mike Deluccia tear back the blood, sweat and tears that came with the ferocity of their 2017 E.P. Destroyer. We are the stuff that stars are made of after all and we should not be surprised when part of us burns at a faster rate than we perhaps expect, or care for. What is needed the impetuses to keep burning, the desire must never be allowed to fully give way, rest, but come back harder, return to the sky blazing, and it is exactly what Valley Queen have achieved in Supergiant.
A seismic shift in the heavens, a debut album that speaks volumes and the star continues to blaze, unavoidable, it shines completely.
Valley Queen release Supergiant via Bread And Butter Records on 28th June.
Ian D. Hall