WALKING UP THAT VALLEY

This is a very talented four piece band out of Norway and "Walking Up That Valley" sits only behind SHAMBLEMATH's second record when it comes to my favourite albums from 2021. Norway is taking over! The bass player plays in MOSTER! and ELEPHANT9. We get a guest Swedish drummer and guest choir. The singer has this whimsical, Canterbury-like voice and he plays guitar, violin, cello and flute. The keyboardist adds clavinet, organ, harpsichord, fender rhodes and synths. And I have to mention the drummer who is a very much in demand session guy but also plays on a lot of tours for bands. Anyway he really stood out to the point of me looking him up. Very active. This album is all about the details. The overall mood is light and sunny but man there are some fiery passages along with distortion and dissonance. This album has it all and I actually right now have it tied with "Aimless Mary" as my favourites from them. Two absolutely incredible 5 star albums.

I was surprised at how moved I was at times, the lyrics really resonate with me, especially the ones about nature. While I do have a top three here I have checked every song but one and that's "So far Away" a relaxed 3 minute folky piece but the rest are outstanding and the reason this gets 5 stars. Top three songs for me include the second track "I Offered You The Moon" along with the final two tracks "Another Day" which is so moving and the title track that ends this record. Check out the lyrics on that title track. Just takes me to another place. I have fallen hard for this one, it's just perfect.