https://www.high-endrolex.com/18

Review & Video Premiere: No Man’s Valley, Outside the Dream

no mans valley outside the dream

No Man’s Valley, “Eyeball” official video premiere

[Click play above to stream the premiere of No Man’s Valley’s “Eyeball” video. Their new album, Outside the Dream, is out March 22 on Tonzonen Records.]

Both their 2016 debut album, Time Travel (review here), and the new follow-up, Outside the Dream (on Tonzonen), immediately clue the listener into No Man’s Valley‘s priorities. This is not a band dealing in grounded fare. The Horst, Netherlands-based five-piece meld ethereal atmospherics with classic psychedelic blues, resulting in a two-sided long-player that channels Doors-style drift on “From Nowhere” after the earlier “Eyeball” melds echoing lysergics with airy post-rocking guitar and a fervent stomp in its drums. Modern touchstones would be The Flying Eyes (“From Nowhere”) or maybe even All Them Witches (“7 Blows”), but No Man’s Valley present these aspects of their sound with a distinctive, open feeling take on songwriting that’s nonetheless memorable, with a depth of mix that lends even the more straightforward push of “Hawk Rock” an ambient character.

Comprised of vocalist Jasper as well as guitarist Christian, bassist Rob, keyboardist Ruud and drummer Dinand, all of whom contribute backing vocals at one point or another, the band are able to tie together seemingly disparate moods and elements, suck that the subdued and malevolent closer “Murder Ballad” is preceded by “Lies,” which seems to call back to the earlier circus feel in the apex of “Eyeball,” but with something even more vicious at play. If one thinks of the album as a progression of dreaming, the opening title-track leads the listener into a fuzz-drenched subconscious along a soulful, organ-inclusive march, and “Eyeball,” “Hawk Rock” — as in, Hawkwind? certainly possible — and “From Nowhere” follow with a pattern of increasing depth, malleable the way one dream can turn into another instantly, getting weirder all the while. That would make side B opener “Into the Blue,” which is appropriately named as the bluesiest track on the record, a similar launchpoint into something darker throughout “7 Blows,” “Lies” and “Murder Ballad.”

That’s a convenient-enough narrative, but I’m not sure it’s what the band are actually shooting for. The lines aren’t so clearly drawn, and they don’t seem to want to be. There’s no question they end dark with “Lies” and “Murder Ballad,” but the path they take to get there isn’t so black and white, and to think it might be is to undervalue the complexity on display throughout sides A and B of the eight-song/40-minute outing. One would call it grey in its approach if it weren’t so gosh darn colorful. Ultimately, No Man’s Valley‘s breadth is not a detriment, of course, and they have the songwriting behind their explorations of mood to hold it all together. Fair enough, but even to look at the almost-manic assembly of images and figures on Outside the Dream‘s cover art, it’s clear they’re crafting a dreamscape — more inside the dream than out of it; though perhaps the title is referring to that haze in one’s first waking moments when consciousness and the unconscious seem to intertwine.

no mans valley

If that’s the case, the shouts in “Eyeball” and the surrounding swirl of effects, as well as the echoing ramble of “Into the Blue” would seem to make even more sense, making sense — from a conceptual standpoint — isn’t really the idea here. Whatever they might be expressing in terms of theme or story, there’s no question No Man’s Valley distinguish themselves among a swath of European psychedelic heavy by means of both style and substance in their work. “Into the Blue” descends into a glorious wash of guitar while the keys — Rhodes, maybe — still stand out all the more dream-like for cutting through the mix as they do, while the earlier “Hawk Rock” is all about thrust, with a garage-rocking style that resolves itself in a Hammond-drenched verse and a sudden stop ahead of the brooding “From Nowhere,” which indeed makes “nowhere” sound like the place to be.

All along this varied course, the band provide a trail of deceptively lush melody for the audience to follow along with them as they go deeper, and even as “7 Blows” seems to break in its midsection in order to vibe out ahead of the closing duo, there’s a return to the hook impending as if to let everyone know they’re not all the way gone yet. This care and attention to detail further help distinguish No Man’s Valley, but frankly, if their second album proves anything, it’s that they don’t need much help. Even in that vast, mostly empty landscape in the middle of “7 Blows,” Jasper plays a fitting Jim Morrison in order to give a human presence ahead of the cacophonous payoff to come. That transition, like Outside the Dream as a whole, is handled with fluidity and grace, and much as they seem to invite all parties to go get lost with them, they’re never actually lost. Even “Lies” has a swinging undercurrent despite its more cynical take and shorter runtime, and its percussive motion, start-stop guitar and bouncing organ line all come together with boozy verse lines to build to the standout chorus.

That leaves No Man’s Valley right at the precipice of “Murder Ballad,” which indeed lives up to its title. Foreboding guitar howls behind the quietly-delivered vocals and a steady, grounding, bassline. One would be remiss not to mention Nick Cave, but “Murder Ballad” isn’t out of place with the rest of Outside the Dream, it’s just a darker manifestation of that unconsciousness. Without the push of drums, it feels like the moment when the band finally let go into the ether, and even at just over four minutes, it is something of a grand finale in terms of execution without actually being overbearing in terms of volume. Fitting, then, that it should close, since it effectively draws down the dream-side of the album, leaving off to silence in such a way as to make one wonder what happens next. Did we wake up? Are we still asleep? Perhaps that’s an answer that will come with No Man’s Valley‘s third record, but either way, their second builds on the debut in terms of structure and expansion of sound, showing the band as perfectly comfortable in or out of the reaches of the waking world. Like a lucid dream, where they go from here would seem to be entirely up to them.

No Man’s Valley on Thee Facebooks

No Man’s Valley on Twitter

No Man’s Valley on Instagram

No Man’s Valley website

Tonzonen Records on Thee Facebooks

Tonzonen Records on Instagram

Tonzonen Records website

Tags: , , , , ,

Leave a Reply