The Breakdown
The Valery Trails have today released their new album ‘Winter Palace – their first release since 2022’s ‘The Sky Is Blue’ (reviewed by me here) and absence certainly makes the heart grow fonder with the welcomed return of their indelible melodies and harmonies.
Opening track ‘Another Time’ provides an anthemic entry point with its thundering, chiming guitars and sonic onslaught that recalls the power and force of shoegaze greats like Ride with a touch of Britpop. The vocal are distant and yearning, the harmonies celestial and thrilling with the instruments sounding like pounding waves off Bondi Beach. It is an epic and cinematic introduction.
In contrast, ‘Leonard Says’ enters with a motorik throb, a buzzing synth wave and epic drums over a scything guitar riff. Elements are there of New Order with a touch of more obscure Australiana like Little Heroes, but the end result is another anthemic pop song of the highest order.
‘Everything Is Temporary’ is a soaring jangly slice of power pop heaven that sets the heart beating with its euphoric delivery. Intrinsic in the sound is the type of soaring melodies found in fellow Brisbane band The Saints’ in their later mellow phase or The Go-Betweens, with an anthemic blast redolent of the Flying Nun roster – The Bats and The Chills. And yet there is also something of a more new wave flavour like The Psychedelic Furs in singer Andrew Bower’s enigmatic delivery.
Bower says the track:
…mines the typical intro/retrospective preoccupations of the indie rocker of a certain age, while acknowledging the fundamental pointlessness of such musings.
It’s effervescent pop of the highest order:
Title track ‘Winter Palace’ jangle and sparkles with a stately delivery: more indelible pop with searing melodies and delicate harmonies over a hammond organ riff.
‘Universe’ ponders the vastness of the world above and the anonymity of the protagonist, with crisp chiming guitars that ring out like bells with a fresh pop sensibility reminiscent of The Chills. Bower says of the track:
I read a lot of science fiction (probably too much), which can lead to bouts of existential dread brought on by considering how insignificant one person is in the grand scale of the universe. The lyrics roam around in a stream of consciousness, but it all comes back to finding and accepting your place in the universe.
The result is something gently reflective and filled with a heart achingly beautiful melody.
‘Vultures of Lima’ swerves into a psychedelic reverie with sitar-like sounds and a haunting percussion that patters in the distance like a heartbeat. The chanting singing is hypnotic, the effect is something soaked in patchouli oil and paisley kaleidoscope patterns in the brain. This leads to firmer ground in ‘You Spin’ with its layered vocals and an almost Celtic rhythm and the trademark soaring melodies.
The poignant and nostalgic ‘First Kiss’ is another jangly slice of joy. Bowers says of the track:
I wrote the song as an ode to young obsession carried by a raucous soundtrack that flirts with classic rock à la Redd Kross and The Hold Steady. I sent the demo to the rest of the band, quoting the wisdom of Spinal Tap – “It’s such a fine line between stupid and clever” – and asking which side the lyrics to ‘First Kiss’ landed. The consensus was that with the right treatment, we might just pull it off!
There is a fuzzy wall of noise, a little more muscular than usual with a touch of Dinosaur Jnr and both cinematic and anthemic. The accompanying video reflects the pure nostalgia:
‘This Is Not My Home’ rockets into the universe with a Status Quo boogie blast born on chugging guitars while ‘People Who Are Gone’ is a driving indie pop blast of goodness delivered over thundering guitars and chiming harmonies and deals with the recurring themes of poignancy and loss as Bowers sings of listening to songs from artists that have died. It is euphoric pop that glitters. ‘Our Love’ slams in with a Northern Soul beat, a vocal delivery redolent of The Clash and a hint of horns, while ‘Instrumental 82’ provides – as the title suggests – a reflective musical interlude with spidery guitars that do all the singing.
Final track, fittingly entitled ‘Journey’s End’, is a rousting jingle jangle farewell and is another track dealing with reflection on the past with a weeping string bedrock and indelible melodies. Bowers says:
It came from thinking about the big life changes that came about for me and my family throughout the COVID years and the aftermath
‘Winter Palace’ is a warm, comforting journey filled with memories and reflection, with a wide and varied genetic makeup that combine to create something quite special. The track are filled with soaring melodies and harmonies, crystalline chiming guitars and a wide cinematic sonic scope. I sense a massive growth from their previous album, a certain greater level of maturity in song writing and arrangement infused with a sense of poignancy and melancholy for the passage of time and yet filled with a certain optimism and satisfaction.
‘Winter Palace’ is out now will be available to download and stream via all the usual sites from 12 September and today through the link below:
You can catch the band live launching the album this Sunday in Brisbane (details below) with further gigs planned in NSW and Victoria:
Thursday October 2nd – Frank’s Wild Years, Thirroul NSW
Friday October 3rd – The Golden Barley, Enmore NSW
Saturday Oct 4th – The Fitzroy Pinnacle, Fitzroy North VIC
Sunday Oct 5th – Cafe Gummo, Thornbury VIC
Feature Photograph: Markus Ravik
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