Of the Valley is the project of Brian DellaValle, a Canadian who moved to Copenhagen to study neuroscience, and now calls Denmark his home. He has recently released his self-titled debut album, ten tracks of atmospheric and emotive folk-flecked music that sound about as far from clinical science as you could imagine.
The album opens with ‘Quiet and Curious’, which places DellaValle’s vocals front and centre, above persistent percussion and grand and swirling ambience. It’s an immediate statement of intent, wrought with both a wistfulness and a clear-eyed determination. Follow-up ‘Ride Alone’ builds from humble beginnings, just gentle guitar and DellaValle’s voice, but grows in emotional intensity as it progresses, ending with a near yelled refrain of “if you can brave this storm.” It’s a great song, and one that seems destined to capture the hearts of listeners all around, combining the lush singer songwriter vibes of Gregory Alan Isakov with the raw emotion of Justin Vernon’s early solo work.
DellaValle’s writing is personal and rich with romanticism. You’re probably aware of the usual scientific stereotype of dour pragmatism in a lab coat, but DellaValle shows that (most) actual scientists are nothing of the sort. In fact, he makes a clear link between the wonder and curiosity required for scientific research and the same qualities in art.
For me, writing music, and words, is not entirely different than being a scientist. In researching nature, we stand on edge, on the shoulders of giants, and work on capturing objective truth,” he describes. “An artistic endeavor is not so different: standing on a cliff-edge, casting your net into the unknown, hoping you might pull something back into it. A subjective truth. Something that moves, something takes courage to read out loud. Pursuing nature’s truths is similar to the pursuit of your own.
As if to prove this point, ‘Italy’ is an evocative love song that paints the story of its two characters with delicate brush strokes, DellaValle’s vocals sounding something like Matt Berninger on a mellow summer vacation, drinking white wine on a sunny Mediterranean patio rather than red in a shadowy New York apartment building. ‘Annie’ aches over sombre piano and subtle strings, before the Jesse Marchant vibes of ‘Over Your World’, which barely raises its voice above a murmur, and the stirringly emotional ‘The Tides’, which takes on a mantra-like quality as DellaValle sings “can you read the tides?”
Penultimate track ‘Where the Headwind Blows’ builds out of easy acoustic guitar and gentle piano, creating something that feels heartfelt but positive too, like a sparkling sunny morning that’s full of hope and promise. The finale, ‘A Place Where My Mind Can Be Free’ is built on a base of sparse piano, stripped right back to allow DellaValle’s vocals to shine one last time. It’s an understatedly reflective end to an album that’s full of feeling, reassuringly soft and poignant as DellaValle sings “if you lean on me I’ll build something you need, something where your body can be free.”
Of the Valley is out now and you can get it via the Of the Valley website.