VALENTINE, MATT - Blazing Grace

It can take a lot for a single album to stand out from a discography as epic as MVs, but by the time youre given this one a single spin it becomes very clear that a new apex has been reached. This long in the works solo outing somehow merges nearly every one of the finest elements of past releases into a perfectly executed singular vision. Theres an intensely personal, exposed element to the song writing here, increasingly hinted at in the recent past but never so purely focused. Likewise the music itself has a honed edge thats both unharnessed yet precise, drifting just enough, but never too far. A newborn musical trajectory wrapped in MVs most loving & elaborate _¢‚Ǩ_ìspectrasound_¢‚Ǩ¬ù production to date, creating a sonic pallet that simply ripples with nuance, tone, and a seemingly bottomless depth of detail. All together, a start-to-finish trip thats instantly memorable & hummable, subtly intimate yet cosmically blasted. Restrained yet fully rocking, with that unmistakable burnt, ragged edge. Blazing grace indeed-- distinctly a solo vibe, but without any shortage of help on board. Guests include : Erika Elder, P.G. Six, MICK Flower, Spanish Wolfman, Jeremy Earl, J. Mascis, Meg Baird, Pete Nolan, Muskox, Carson Arnold, and Rongoose, all adding to the decidedly rich, earthy, and futuristic sound. Endless guitars of every texture, lush mellotron, vibrating harmonies, star-dust synth, hazed rhythms, eastern drones, and far more, all fluidly entwined -- packaged in a beautiful full color laminated 60s style heavy tip-on cover, with large insert. Edition of 500 copies. - Time-Lag.