Fresh off the heels of a major change comes Valley’s latest album, Water the Flowers, Pray For a Garden”
Written by Shauna Hilferty
Photo by Becca Hamel
What makes Valley’s music hold true through the years is that they have been crafting albums with the same word in mind every time – authenticity. The indie-pop trio are rethinking, shapeshifting, and most importantly – writing about it. The band, consisting of Rob Laska, Karah James and Alex DiMauro, are finding out from scratch who they are. Building from the ground up, Water the Flowers, Pray for a Garden is the product of a band who changed drastically in the past year. Alluding to new and old relationships, longing (but never forgotten) friendships, and growing old and growing up, this record contains it all. All fourteen tracks were produced by Chase Lawrence (of COIN), and use sweeping strings and synths, evoking this feeling of nostalgia throughout.
The namesake track, “Water the Flowers, Pray for a Garden”, was released as a single a few weeks prior to the album’s release. An upbeat beginning containing contrasting lyrics, it reminds me of the formula Valley follows often; high tempo sonics, semi-sad words. The admission of “I guess that I'd rather laugh than cry 'bout my problems / When honestly I don't know how to solve 'em” at the top of the album is a bold and inviting confession. A folksy, acoustic “A Little More” comes up next, mimicking Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car”’s iconic chord progression. The premise is lovely and easy, and reminds me of The 1975’s “Guys”, in its blatant explanation of admiration to the members of the band. And the Fleetwood Mac references are loud and clear – who doesn’t want to dance to Everywhere? On the opposite of the spectrum is “Growing (Apart). The banjo ties into that country-twang they are leaning into. The absolute increase in instruments after the couplet chorus is really representative of the turmoil of emotions one feels during a tumultuous time in a relationship.
Another single “When You Know Someone”, appears as fourth in the album. Tackling feelings of abandonment and pride, the lyrics go: "Jump ship right there in mid-ocean / 'Nother sinking hand means one less that I'm holding / Your secret life cut me open.” “When You Know Someone” includes the second mention of the canon Brookfield, along with otherwise overlooked places and things that suddenly become so major; basements, keys, clothes. It prompts the question: do you really know people as much as you think you do? Karah’s vocals layered faintly as the song slowly fades into a piano outro is beautifully done and captures feeling left behind.
“Let It Rain” not-so-quickly accepts changes and things we can’t control, acknowledging falling out of friendships and relationships. Electric guitar note bend following the mention of Mickey in the second verse was a nice touch. This song, similarly to the last, has an outro with instruments distorting and stepping on each other’s toes. Picking up the tempo and keeping the folksy-feel, “Crawlspace” feels tooth-achingly sweet. It details finding the person you always knew that you can come home to, no matter how much time has passed or how long it’s been. “Mosquito” and “Bop Ba” diverge for a moment to speak about the potential parasitic parts of a romantic relationship. The lyrics from each song go hand in hand using nature as a metaphor: “I'll deny it, personify it / 'Til I bleed you dry”, and in “Bop Ba”, “She is a tree, I'm just a leaf / We live a life of dependency”.
An interlude with an intro that reminded me a lot of COIN, is “I Didn’t Even Ask For This”, that segues into “Bass Player’s Brother”, a story of Janie falling in love, whether it’s for her own good…we have yet to find out. The specificity of lyrics, like “He had a buzz cut/ August of '90 / She was a box dyed blonde in a pipe dream”, make it easy to picture the story, playing out like a movie. A callback to “Bop Ba”, “Life Goes On Without Me” carry the album towards its finish, not neglecting to include Karah’s and Rob’s vocal harmonies, complementing the keys, banjo, and guitar. A bittersweet end to the record is “Cocoon”, is another nature metaphor, as the lyrics detail an inevitable departure. From what, it is never specified, but it can be assumed that it was Mickey’s decision to leave the band that really birthed many of the concepts of the whole project.
Water the Flowers, Pray for a Garden included less vignettes and exaggerations of stories and lyrically leaned more into real life. Authentically and unabashedly themselves, Valley used this experience as a way to process change, answering questions they had to ask themselves: How do we come back from this? How can we push through, how can we cope? It felt cathartic and triumphant to listen to Valley's product of heartache and change, a product that proclaims Valley can still do what they do best.