AWITW - Valley Girl

Review by Karl Magi

Overall Album Impressions

AWITW’s “Valley Girl” spills out in jewel-like tones, swirling me away on an auditory journey. Through layers of intermingled tones, textural elements and melodic expression, the album unfolds in scenes of affection, adventure and moments of more melancholy contemplation. The way in which AWITW reflects experiences and imagery adds to the complexity and depth of the musical experience. I'm also enamoured of the performance by Ross Lustre on “Running Wild,” as it gives further weight to the music’s emotive nature.

A tide of layered synth sounds sweeps through “Valley Girl”  bearing me along in its flow. Luminosity intermingles with density and fragility with strength, sliding together in a welter of ear-catching auditory complexity. Each different element emphasizes another image or feeling, elucidating the artist's creative view. His ability to choose sounds that suit the different tracks allows the music to expand and encompass the atmosphere and mood which they radiate. As a result, the music clearly communicates to the listener.

Melodically speaking, “Valley Girl” packs a punch. Each track contains within it a melodic morsel that drives home the message within the notes. Every melody is full of unique signatures and radiates a different emotive sensation. As I move through the tracks, each one illustrates a different aspect which the artist wants to highlight, engaging me in his creative process and allowing me to experience the atmospheres and sensations which he seeks to evoke. In addition, harmonics reverberate throughout and add yet another aspect to the album.

It's clear that AWITW wishes to evoke an experience that has touched and moved him in this album. He uses all of his musical skills to deliver a listening experience which puts one in touch with those different emotional states. The way in which he presses home the message makes the album one in which I've become invested.

My Favourite Songs Analyzed

“Moving Shadows” takes form with umbral darkness rising from towering foundational walls. Shining with soft luminosity, reverberant tones drift, lonely and haunted, while the patterned underpinnings throb. Hypnotically shifting sounds move behind vibrant brushing notes which resolve into filigree as hovering synth echoes in an evocation of empty wandering. Emptiness and disconnection touch me, expressing themselves in my heart with intense emotion. Gliding away from me, open notes trace and fade as the track ends.

Broadcasting swelling light, tones which speak of powerful emotion glow and bring “Valley Girl” to life. Hints of roughness shiver at the edges of the sweeping tones, blown by a lonely wind. Solidly expanding underlayers rise to meet a ticking rhythmic throb as the breezes swirl. Impressions of wide-open spaces slide from the broad tones, transporting solitary sensations deeply into my mind. 

Emotional impact, mingling affection and feelings of vistas stretching away, flows from the synth as it exhales in hushed peace. Harmonies that grasp my heart intermingle as the melodic line carries tremulous caring, transported by hushed drum motion. Below everything, a dense bass cloud hovers while silken notes slide. Evocative and warm, peace tinged with melancholy spreads outward before quiet falls.

“Running Wild” breathes to life with whispering notes that add caressing emotion while the guitar entangles above the bass pool below. Echoing out, full of feeling, Ross Lustre’s words hang in reverberant space. Rushing foundations underpin the ardent fire burning in the vocal performance, like a flaming arrow to the heart. The rhythm pounds as tremulous tenderness mingles with the defiant swell of Ross Lustre’s voice.

Heartbeat pulsations shift as a breeze slips past. Brilliance defines notes that rise and flare while escape permeates the vocals and the drums punch. Reaching for joy and love, Ross Lustre carries the words with conviction. Like a sunset bursting from a dark cloud, the melody gleams and spins out before the song ends on the drifting emotion within the vocals.

Exhorting the song’s subject, “Let’s go run, running wild,” our storyteller says, “Let’s go make the world a place where we can be.” As their eyes meet in the garden, he beckons the song’s subject and says, “Come over, fuck the warden.” He adds, “You are friends with her and them and I work there, do this and that.” He notes that the song’s subject is working there too, he liked their smile and wanted to talk.

After traveling far and wide, the song’s subject found their peace, as the narrator says that “one like them” learned release. They sit close together on the train and their thighs touch through their clothes. The narrator asks, “Why am I so cynical?” and as they watch everyone around them, he adds, “I know you see what I mean, ’cause you laugh at my remarks.” He points out that although the other person doesn’t think it’s so grim, “you must admit the line is thin.”

To conclude, our storyteller says, “Let’s go walk to spite the rain, hand in hand across terrain. See the sun rise in the bay, hear the stories, learn the way.”

An expanding colour spectrum broadly levitates as “Your Glowing Hands” takes shape. Spectrally drifting, whispering notes tremble out into open space in a carpet of lush sound. Strumming guitar spins in a funky figure, washed by prismatic light. Percussion forms a shaping tide while melodic patterns create meditative states as the beat reverberates.

Luscious layers move one through the other, a tapestry of luminosity exuding contemplative tranquility. A breath in, a breath out and I fly, cradled by sonic peace, roaming above a thousand landscapes. As twisting tones intertwine, hushing the babble of voices in my mind, the track drifts like scudding clouds through blue sky. Weight undulates below, cut by vibrating sounds like diamond sparkles. Drums break with echoing motion and synth casts iridescence as ripples spread outward and silence falls.

“Here Together” is tinged with fluting ethereality and reverent warmth while sweeping winds float. Metallic and tender, a melody reverberates, filled with affection as it spreads out above the tranquil, thumping percussion. Ringing illumination flashes, slipping through airy peace as tiny notes vibrate. Drums, like a steady heartbeat, guide a melody tender and light and I wander with it in cloud-like ease.

Rainbows refract and rising summer air becomes a melancholy caress from the synth. Slow arpeggiation suffuses the music with crystalline prisms as broadly echoing tones slip between and bass like a giant tide flows. Hopeful encouragement bursts out from scintillating sonic lines, hang drum tones tapping before the track exhales in one glittering breath and grows silent.

Gargantuan sharpness slices through misty meditation to start “Now Playing.” Otherworldly pan pipes expand with celebratory speed while giant power moves urgently underneath. A melody grows with encouragement, delivering a joyful memory, putting me in mind of good times past but not forgotten. 

Panpipes sing like a choir of extraterrestrial voices while chords cast sunlight into the bass well below. A synth, breathing with gentle touches, swirls and mingles, transporting me to dreaming realms while the panpipes frolic with cosmic energy. A heartbeat shifts evenly while piping sounds levitate. Reverence shimmers from the tune before the music sweeps to a close on galactic exhalations.

Conclusion

“Valley Girl” bubbles with lushness and complex layering, exuding emotions that run the gamut from excitement to passion, with stops along the way for tenderness and joy. The end result is music that lives and breathes with positivity and a sense of fullness as it evolves.