Valerian Swing – Nights (2017)

I’ve really struggled with associating myself with the instrumental world recently. It’s difficult finding something that I feel speaks to me in a very particular way. This could be leant to the fact that the instrumental scene has become a little saturated or it could be me becoming an adult and being less fun. To some degree I feel like the instrumental world has lost touch with its roots, this was a scene built upon bands challenging normality and escaping the traditional approach of writing music and this is what made it so exciting. This sense of adventure is so important to me and it’s not something that can easily be manufactured. For these reasons it is so refreshing and genuinely exciting to come across Valerian Swing‘s latest release Nights.

Nights is an album of many parts, treading around its influences in a very delicate respectful fashion whilst also bringing Valerian Swings now almost trademarked unpredictability to the table. They have come such a long way since their initial release A Sailor Lost Around The Earth back in 2011 and that musical experience and maturity shows in Nights. Their style has changed dramatically due to their growth as a band but they have hung on to the speed, drama and musical proficiency that made there previous releases so special. Valerian Swing have chosen to tone back the constant heavy riffage and scatter these moments of real intensity throughout the album which has created an atmosphere with greater growth and impact. The refreshing addition of vocals to a few tracks on the release is something to be admired creating moments of real intimacy, rebuilding themselves as a band with a pop sensibility and awareness. I’d also like to mention the incredible production on this release and how well suited it is to the epic nature of the band, Valerian Swing have not sounded this enormous before, the drums and guitars are often drenched In beautifully separated sparkling reverbs that begin to sound almost choral as the album develops. Nights is a beautiful album with amazing beauty that jumps out at you on every turn.

Nights is name your price on bandcamp currently so you have no excuse to not give it a listen.