“There’s got to be another way/ I’ve been on my own all day/ Pretending everything’s alright/ We’ve been drifting apart for some time…”
As introductory couplets go, those which kick off Whitney’s Valleys (My Love) are about as candid and unequivocal as they come. “I feel like I’m holding on to a place in your heart that’s long gone” Julien Ehrlich will continue in trademarkedly reedy tones, even before a chorus has kicked in, leaving absolutely no room for misconstruction whatsoever. The sentiment is unmistakably relatable – made all the more so by the eminently familiar Americana by which it’s backed – and goes to show that brighter horizons sometimes dawn after some of life’s more emotionally turbulent moments. As goes without saying, off the back of both this and the preceding Giving Up, a golden hour would seemingly await when Ehrlich and Max Kakacek release their sophomore full-length, Forever Turned Around, next month.
Forever Turned Around is available from August 30th via Secretly Canadian, while Whitney play the Roundhouse on November 29th.