A band who have sprung back to life during the pandemic when all three members ended up living in the same city again (Brisbane), The Valery Trails are set to release a new EP titled 'Disappear'.
Prior to COVID reshaping our everyday lives, Andrew was living in Houston and was enjoying a year-long around the world trip with his family when international borders began closing.Forced to return to Australia and his home town of Brisbane, Andrew decided to make lemonade from the lemons life had thrown his way, reconnecting with Sean Bower (bass) and Dan McNaulty (drums).
Soon a flurry of activity was underway as the trio began jamming new ideas and working on songs that led to a number of recording sessions.
That enterprise has culminated in The Valery Trails releasing the 'Disappear' EP. The title track is a jangly serving of new wave power-pop, layered guitars bringing the beat to life while lush vocals add a nostalgic warmth.
Other tracks on the EP include 'The Days Of In Between' (a short story laden with guitar hooks), 'Brand New Start' (an alt country, new wave hybrid breakup song) and 'Goodbye' (which starts as a spiky post-punk influenced tune then blossoms into a hypnotic, sprawling psych-tinged workout).
scenestr is stoked to premiere the music video for 'Disappear', which was created and produced by Sean's three young daughters. Enjoy.
"Sean's three daughters had a great time writing the story and making the video (with a bit of editing help from Dad)," Andrew says.
"Our kids and pets have had cameo roles in previous videos, but this is next-level content creation; the girls did a great job."
The 'Disappear' EP's four tracks come from a a collection of fourteen songs that "have been a few years in the making, delayed by band member travels and life in general, then COVID disruptions and lockdowns," Andrew says.
"Also a decision [we made] that with everything else going on rather than working to a deadline we were going to take our time and make sure we did the tracks justice in terms of writing, arrangement and production.
"Four of these tracks make up the 'Disappear' EP, while the remaining ten will make up our fourth album, 'The Sky Is Blue', to be released in August.
"'Disappear' (the song) throws a bunch of our influences (jangly '80s bands, power-pop, Flying Nun bands, the Lemonheads, even a dash of Bob Mould in his Sugar incarnation) in a blender.
"It has a touch of melancholy like most of our songs, but hopefully some hope as well – hopefully the answer to the rhetorical question in the chorus that we choose to carry on, not disappear."
The band also called on a few local musician mates to add parts to the songs.
"Being all located in Brisbane also allowed us to tap into our musical network here, getting a little help from our friends with additional guitars from Tim Steward (Screamfeeder, We All Want To) and vocals from Skye Staniford (We All Want To, Slumlawwd)."
