Sydney three-piece Valar (James Blackwood, Pete Covington, Tim Parsons) have been featured on Indie Shuffle a couple of times over the past months in the lead-up to their most recent EP, Chocolate Cake (which dropped just last week). This is the band's third EP and first for their current line-up, and it's by far their most intriguing to date. Recorded in various homes around the East Coast of Australia, Chocolate Cake is a record that very few Australian acts would even consider putting out.
First single "Astronaut" was probably the most familiar Valar track off the EP, but "Anoesis" then caught me off-guard with the band's new, experimental approach.
With the release of the five-track EP, "Baby I Like the Feeling" has been highlighted as its feature single. Again, they've pushed a number of boundaries -- it's one of those tracks you listen to and think "that's brave of them" -- but every risk they take contributes to some extraordinary music. The effects, arrangement, and sampling give it a slightly twisted, alien feel that is very difficult to pull yourself away from, and Blackwood's introspective vocals once again find their way under the listener's skin.
I find it very difficult to review challenging music like this, and I often feel that my words don't express how much I love this band. Chocolate Cake is available to stream in full on Valar's Bandcamp, and is also available as a T-shirt/EP combo purchase. Brilliant.
SIMILAR SONGS
