This Friday, Oct. 2, Ohio heavy rockers Valley of the Sun will celebrate the release of their new album at the esteemed Tabernas Desert Rock Festival at Fort Bravo in Almería, Spain. Their sixth full-length, The Blacklight Sessions (review here), is out worldwide the same day through Heavy Psych Sounds, and it’s fitting that the video premiering below for “A Greater Meaning” should have been filmed by the band in multiple locations on three different continents between North America, Europe and Africa. The underlying message that Valley of the Sun get around should not go unrecognized.

With a straightforward start-stop riff in its verse, a vocal delivery that’s comparatively subdued from when guitarist Ryan Ferrier is in belt-it-out mode, and a complementary driving groove in the chorus, “A Greater Meaning” earns its place on The Blacklight Sessions between the record’s two most extended tracks, “The Long Song” (10:30) and “Mountain” (9:41), being a return to ground from the former and a hook to hold onto as you face down the latter with eight-minute closer “No Hope” behind. It is the shortest song on the album, but offers a showcase of efficient songwriting for that in a way that none of the surrounding tracks do, emblematic of the desert-influenced fuzz-careening heavy rock Valley of the Sun are known for, extrapolated to a new degree.

And for that, “A Greater Meaning” represents the album well, too, since what one finds most of all in the record is that the veteran trio are continuing to push themselves as songwriters and working to showcase different sides of their approach. It’s not like their delivery ever wasn’t pro-shop, but their take has been refined over time and they seem more comfortable than ever working in different methodologies while maintaining a lack of pretense that’s as much defining a feature of who they are as any riff you could possibly point to on The Blacklight Sessions, and you could point to plenty of them.

The dates for their Euro tour and album preorders are under the video premiere below.

Please enjoy:

Valley of the Sun, “A Greater Meaning” video premiere

Ryan Ferrier on “A Greater Meaning”:

“A Greater Meaning” is a song about finding and losing value and direction in life. Filmed in Ohio, Tunisia, Germany, and California, the imagery is meant to evoke the lifelong quest for meaning that we all experience. Along the way, we find adventure, beauty, and serenity, but also solitude and fear, while always reaching for one more reason to hold on to hope.

Preorder: https://heavypsychsounds.com/?post_type=product&s=blacklight

Valley of the Sun’s sixth studio LP, “The Blacklight Sessions”, is a deep dive into the sonic roots of the band who continues to defy genre norms. With tracks ranging from blues jam to psychedelic desert trip to driving stoner riffage, the band continues to demonstrate that their music knows no bounds, nor should it.

Mixed, mastered and produced by John Naclerio at Nada Studio, Montgomery, New York. Artwork by Jarrod Warf. Video filmed and edited by Valley of the Sun.

Valley of the Sun “The Blacklight Sessions” Tour 2026
02/10 Tabernas Desert Rock Fest
13/10 Morlenbach, DE Weiher
14/10 Osnabrück, DE Bastard Club
15/10 Jena, DE Kuba Jena
16/10 Dresden, DE Heavy Psych Sounds
17/10 Berlin, DE Heavy Psych Sounds
18/10 Warszawa, PL Chmury Club
19/10 Kraków, PL Klub Gwarek
21/10 Wien, AT Verein Forum Wien
22/10 Bratislava, SK Pink Whale
23/10 Pássau, DE Zauberberg
24/10 München, DE Backstage Klub
25/10 Freiburg im Breisgau, DE Artik
27/10 Annecy, FR La Coloc
29/10 Paris, FR Backstage by the Mill
30/10 Wasquehal, FR The Black Lab
31/10 Bruxelles, BE Temple Studios
01/11 Eindhoven, NL The Jack
02/11 Breda, NL Mezz
03/11 Düsseldorf, DE Pitcher
04/11 Münster, DE Rare Guitar
05/11 Köln, DE Club Volta
06/11 Hanau, DE KultK1
07/11 Aachen, DE Musik Bunker
08/11 Kiel, DE Schaubude
10/11 Hamburg, DE Knust
11/11 Copenhagen, DK Stengade
12/11 Aalborg, DK 1000Fryd
13/11 Oslo, NO Vaterland Bar & Scene
14/11 Stockholm, SE Fuzztival

Tickets: linktr.ee/vots

Valley of the Sun are:
Ryan Ferrier – guitar, vocals
Chris Sweeney – bass
Johnny Kathman – drums

Valley of the Sun, The Blacklight Sessions (2026)

Valley of the Sun Linktr.ee

Valley of the Sun on Bandcamp

Valley of the Sun on Instagram

Valley of the Sun on Facebook

Heavy Psych Sounds website

Heavy Psych Sounds on Bandcamp

Heavy Psych Sounds on Instagram

Heavy Psych Sounds on Facebook

Tags: Cincinnati, Heavy Psych Sounds, Ohio, The Blacklight Sessions, Valley of the Sun, Valley of the Sun The Blacklight Sessions

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 1st, 2026 at 7:54 am and is filed under Bootleg Theater. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.