Our favorites Valley, just released the second half of their Debut LP titled Maybe! They broke up the album into side A and side B. Out of every body of work I’ve heard, Maybe: Side B took my breath away. As a huge valley fan the second I heard the first new song I went Crazy. The self titled track from side A called “Maybe” even made an appearance into my new favorite song called “Watery Brain”. Also, The production of this EP is absolutely magnificent. I’m so excited to see how far valley goes in the future!!
Check out my track-to-track breakdown of the new songs off side B and our conversation with Valley below!
Boys and girls of 2018 and everything in between
I have chills listening to the intro because not only does it remind me of the 1975 but I can imagine this as a song that interludes to them coming onto stage at a show. The two minute and twenty second song, while short lyrically this song hits like no other. “Another generation dying” this song is so deep in many ways, it’s so raw and it gives off such a powerful message.
No words. Lyrically AND melodically this song is utter perfection. Valley has a way to hook you into every one of their songs, and sports car is no expectation. This track is so catchy and just simply BEAUTIFUL, 10/10 will have this on repeat.
I’m absolutely obsessed with the harmonies on this track! This feels like a duet and I absolutely adore it. This song is so simple it just makes the listening experience so much better. Valley are insane songwriters and this song is absolutely no exception to that statement.
Oh gosh. I have no idea where to start. I’ve never felt such a connection to a song before. As a valley fan, this song actually brought me to tears. Knowing that both eps come together to create on cohesive body of work, makes this song a million times better. At the bridge of watery brain they sing a small part of the album titled song “Maybe”. I can’t describe the feeling I had after hearing that, I had chills just after hearing the first couple seconds. Like I don’t know any other artist that has the outro of the entire ep be the same as the beginning of the first EP… mind blown! This has to be my favorite valley song to date.
Also on the EP are two songs which were previously released as singles called Park Bench and A phone call in Amsterdam! You can check out my solo review of Park Bench here!
Photo Credit: Becca Hamel
What was your inspiration behind wanting to split “Maybe” into EP’s?!
We wrote a long album and wanted each song to be able to have the time of day with our listeners, so splitting it into 2 sides seemed the best way to do that. We have access to unlimited music and media that it’s a reality whether or not we like it that most people tend to not listen to an album the whole way through, the modern day attention span does not allow it. Thats okay though, we just need to experiment with streaming and see what works and what doesn’t!
Was the whole body of work created at once? What was your process like?
Yes, we wrote the album in a specific order that when Side A and Side B are listened together it will all tie in, lyrically, melodically and thematically. Side B is a continuation of a lot of the themes already discussed on Side A, it is darker, more ballad-like and has a feeling of closure I think. The cohesive structure of MAYBE was not something we necessarily did consciously, a lot of the content for the songs kind of just happens because it is possibly what we were all going through at the time. Once the demos were done and we went to rerecord a lot of it, we started to see trends both lyrically and musically in so many of the songs. We then tried to embellish those trends a bit so that it could be in a form that our listeners would pick up on. We love hiding easter eggs in our music, maybe because some of our favourite bands always did that, it creates a heightened listening experience.
Photo Credit: Becca Hamel
What did your song writing process look like for side B?!
All of the songs were written at once and then we decided to split the album, so there was no specific process for Side B exclusively, but I think the over all vibe for the songs chosen for Side B all sort of have this darker undertone. For example the song ‘Nowhere Fast’ and ‘Boys and Girls’ are very existential and generational… and ‘Phone Call’ and ‘Sports car’ are longing on the past and regretful. We co-write everything between the 4 of us and sometimes with people external from the band, so there is a lot of questioning when it comes to small creative and lyrical decisions. It can be pulling teeth and very tedious but I think that it creates the best outcome for what the song truly deserves.
As a band, do you enjoy taking some of the reigns on the production of your work?
We self produced the record in our home studio (aka our parents basement), we all went to school for audio so production it is naturally a passion of ours. Andy Seltzer co-produced the record with us and brought some half finished songs to the finish line!
Credit: Becca Hamel
Lastly, What made you guys want the intro of “Maybe” to be the outro to “watery brain”?
We just heard it one day when we were working on the arrangement of Watery Brain. From the moment we wrote the song we knew it was going to be the last track on the record. So tying it all together seemed appropriate. We also wanted to reiterate the lyrics as a send off to listeners, to give a sense of closure and comfort.
This ep truly means a lot to me not only as a music lover but a valley fan. Make sure you go give this a listen! You definitely won’t regret it! Find them before they get crazy famous 😉
FOLLOW VALLEY:
Website | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube | listen to Side B here |
Check out Valley on tour with The Band Camino this fall!
