Valleyheart - Heal My Head (6/7/2022) Album • Page 4

This was very pleasant on first listen, and seems like it’ll reward multiple listens. The restraint reminds me of what ManOrch did with Million Masks of God. There weren’t a ton of hard hitting moments, but when they showed up, they really left an impression.

 

I was wondering if I was the only that noticed that about The Days

 

I made it all the way to the title track and it blew my socks off...

My God, what a song.

 

Valleyheart has always been there for me and big life changes.

- Nowadays came out right as I was moving to a city for the first time, changing jobs, and getting serious and thinking about marriage with my now wife.

- Everyone I Ever Loved came out shortly after I lost all my stuff in an apartment fire and was really thinking about mortality and just how weird and fragile life is. I also just felt like I was constantly on the verge of having a mental breakdown while figuring life out and what it was anymore.

- Scenery came out when I was at my most depressed and fragile state in the aftermath of the pandemic. 2021 into early 2022 was infinitely the hardest time for me mentally dealing with depression and anxiety from a lot of the fallout of the pandemic and unhealthy relationships I'd formed with my work life balance.

- This one is coming out on my last day of working at the same company I've been with since leaving around the Nowadays er. I'm moving on to a new industry and kind of taking a chance in order to take the reins more with caring for myself and finding a healthier relationship with work life.

Thanks for reading my sap. This band just always has and always will mean a lot to me. Happy to see people enjoying this one. It's special.

 

This band means a whole lot to me and I’m excited to give this a proper listen later tonight.

 

Legit thought the exact same thing.
When I first heard it the image that came to mind was the american pie scene where they are all cheering eachother across the room with their bud lights

 

Bro?? Carousel??? Jfc

 

My thoughts about this run kinda parallel with the Caracara record. Feel a little mislead by the lead single, but by the time the record was over I didn’t really care. This is a much heavier swing than the debut and the result is the type of record we just don’t get too often in this corner of music anymore

 

Never heard of this band before but I am seriously loving this.

Edit: this is exactly what I’ve been in need of lately. Oh boy. This is doing it for me

 

I think once I listen 10 times I will be in love...similar to Caracara.

Both bands I don't really love the debut albums, fell in love with the EP, then was caught off guard by LP2 a bit.

 

I like this. It sometimes reminds me of Mae

 

Fucking Heal My Head the song is banger, love it.

 

This is why I love them so much. The Everglow is an all-time favorite of mine and the first time hearing them reminded me of Mae. Fitting that both were on Tooth & Nail too.

 

Your Favorite Jacket works soooo much more for me in the context of the album than it did as a single. Really dig that song now

Vampire Smile is like vintage Coldplay and I wish it had a bigger hook or refrain to match. But the vibe is there and I love it

 

The days intro sounds like twin peaks intro. Can’t unhear

 

I think I can safely say this tops EIEL for me. Idk how they did it but they did

 

I probably need to spend some more time with this, but it’s a little disappointing to me. I just feel like the melodies and the lyrics were tighter on there debut. I like “Back and Forth”, “Your Favorite Jacket”, and “Heal my Head”. I having a real hard time getting into much else, especially “Warning Signs”, “Vampire Smile”, and “The Numbers”.

 

I ascend during that last chorus of the title track

 

see i feel like the numbers (and weirdly enough ceiling) is the closest they get on here to eiel, so not liking that one is interesting to me

 

I abused this all weekend.

Final thoughts are - its just OK.
Lot of similar tempo throughout, and when it does change, its always in the final chorus. The structure is just a little too pop straightforward for me.

Just think everything about the Scenery EP is more captivating.

 

After spending the weekend with this, I've really warmed to almost everything. I don't mind the pop-oriented structures or dynamics as much as a few others seem to, but I can see if you were coming at this from a more niche perspective why it may be a tad frustrating.

The initial run of Birth-Numbers-Miracle-HMH is so, so strong. Numbers is still a top-3 track for me off the album (which I guess is sort of an unpopular opinion) and Heal My Head in particular reminds me of an "Air For Free" Relient K song, which I don't say lightly. Then the back half run of Favorite Jacket-B&F-Warning Signs- and Ceiling is almost as strong as the first... Back & Forth is reminiscent to me of something off the latest Snarls EP, while Warning Signs is indeed ripped straight out of the early aughts (which is a huge compliment).

The thing that hasn't clicked for me yet is Vampire Smile sandwiched between the two four song runs... Which is less about the song itself (which has been growing on me) and more that it takes all the momentum that the first four songs build to and unleash with the ending of Heal My Head and just completely kills it. I understand this is probably by design and the desire to downshift when transitioning to the less intense back-half of the album makes sense, but I think that a shorter song like Ceiling (2:30) would accomplish that same goal without making me want to skip ahead to Jacket and into the next run of songs.

Also, the soft song w/big ending formula feels a little more worn out by the time Days comes around, but in a vacuum, it's a song that I really enjoy.

Ultimately, I think this album will feature highly on my year-end list and it's an album I'm so thankful that we got at all considering what this band has been put through. A HUGE thank you to the band for sticking it out and to Tooth & Nail for giving an act like Valleyheart a platform.

 

YFJ->B&F->WS

 

Mae vibes all over this. They even dip into Copeland here and there.

 

I love this record

 

THERE'S A KNOCK ON THE DOOR OF MY WAVERING TROUBLED CONSCIOUSNESS