Star by Valley James (Side A)

Back in the spring Valley James was a flame-haired femme fatale posting content that was more than slightly reminiscent of David Lynch movies. There was no way I would not be writing about her. I know from her brilliant Instagram account that Valley has faced adversity in her life but I have tried to stick to the music in this album deep-dive. You can read the rest elsewhere.

One of the big draws for me into the world of Valley James is that she has created a complete character and world for her music to inhabit. I can’t pretend to know the real Valley James, but I feel that I know this character in a deep way. She features throughout Hollywood cinema history in film noir, in black and white Westerns or silent gothic movies, even in European cinema. Indeed, her tagline on Instagram is simply goth country 🖤. Whoever this girl is, she is essentially immortal. I don’t know if Valley will cringe or swoon to be compared to Lana Del Rey… so I am not saying that. Not after one album.

Star

One thing is for sure: her story has just begun. Valley sings about a burning valley, a word that is more loaded for her than it is for most of us. This is ethereal, winter, night music of the highest calibre. There’s an acoustic guitar, actually not all that much music at all. This album is a great example of less being more.

The room Valley creates in the music emphasizes her voice and the lyrics. This was always going to be my cup of tea. And now she’s singing of velvet. I think the key question the song asks (is there life after death?) is central to much of country-inspired music. This is a very strong opening to a very strong debut album.