Swan Valley Heights Call it Quits
Swan Valley Heights go out at the top of their game. Their Fuzzorama-delivered 2023 album, Terminal Forest (review here), was their best, and is the kind of record that people will continue to discover for years, even though the Munich-based three-piece have played their last show and gone their separate ways.
The band’s 2016 self-titled debut (review here) set them forth on a trajectory of warm heavy psychedelic rock, and 2019’s The Heavy Seed (review here) solidified that with more progressive construction and ideology in the songwriting. Terminal Forest — very much in third-record fashion — was the point where the different sides came together to create something richer than the parts comprising it. Not a moment that a band can fake, and again, they may be done, but the document remains. In light of the fact that they won’t do a follow-up (immediately; never say never on a reunion), I’m that much gladder for the realization of Terminal Forest‘s songs.
That album streams at the bottom of this post, along with the video for “My First Knife Fight” (premiered here) that they reference in their goodbye message, which appears below in blue as hoisted from social media. All my best to the members of Swan Valley Heights on future endeavours:
Friends, this is it. This is the end. The end of Swan Valley Heights’ story.
The quick, honest, and probably very unspectacular “why”: Life changes. People change. And when your focus shifts away from being in a band (which demands a lot), and the enthusiasm to write music—or to sit in a van for countless hours to play it—starts to fade for some in the band, it’s time to call it quits. That’s what happened. Very simple. That’s why you’re reading this.
But that’s okay. The journey this band had, the time we spent with each other and of course with all of you, was priceless. Swan Valley Heights has been a massive part of our lives for a long time, and we are—and always will be—beyond grateful for what it gave us. Playing beautiful festivals, wild DIY shows, meeting so, so many awesome people and bands, hearing from every single one of you who came to see us, wrote to us, supported us, offered us a place to sleep. You know who you are! <3 Over ten years is a long time. And all of it shaped us.
And the journey’s not quite over. There will be one last show — our swan song, if you will — [this past weekend] at Knispival. It’s an awesome little festival, organized by Oroboros e.V. and our dear friend Felix — roadie, merch guy, driver, motivator, and basically fourth band member (he especially has earned a lot of good karma, +6 mana, and our eternal gratitude for the last years). The festival’s also just a couple stone throws away from where this band was born, and at the same place we recorded our final LP, Terminal Forest — a bit prophetic in hindsight. One last show, in a place that means a lot, surrounded by friends.
We know this is short notice for a PSA like this, but we couldn’t imagine a better way to close the circle. And what a circle it was!
So, what’s left to say? Thanks for reading this far. And of course — thank you! Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Hope you think of us during future knife fights.
It was a pleasure.
– Swan Valley Heights
https://www.facebook.com/swanvalleyheights/
https://www.instagram.com/swanvalleyheights/
https://swanvalleyheights.bandcamp.com/
Good band.
So long and be well!
FUCK! I first learned about them when they played Fuzzfest in stockholm a few years ago and was blown away. So sad i might never get to see them live again. Those three albums will be cherished