‘Lily of the Valley’ was not an easy album for me to listen to, digest, and review. While some listeners may find the easy going indie arrangements of this Philadelphia-based group’s new 9-track album to be an immediate enticement, I was both captured and haunted by the album’s emotional topic of loving someone with brain cancer. As I have gone through the struggles of dealing with my own father’s brain cancer diagnosis, I have found a surprising number of people – both acquaintances and members of my close circle – have felt this specific pain in their own lives as well. I suspect that this album has deservedly heightened 22° Halo’s acclaim by connecting with feelings of loss and hope among people in this position, as well as anyone who has loved someone with an illness. Part of the genius of 22° Halo’s new album is the simultaneous approachability of the sonic structure, and the crushing weight of the content that structure is formed around. Focused on the tender and approachable moments of reality that frame human life, ‘Lily of the Valley’ is a quiet triumph of personally charged songwriting.
Distributed on November 8th by Tiny Library Records, ‘Lily of the Valley’ brings to mind an updated version of the soft indie stylings of artists such as Casiotone for the Painfully Alone, The Notwist, The Magnetic Fields, and even more contemporary artists among the Double Double Whammy catalog such as Florist, Hovvdy, and Babehoven.
Softly plodding, twangy, sometimes quite spacious and restrained, this album finds its footing immediately with the charmingly bubbly “Bird Sanctuary.” This track establishes the vocal partnership of writing and life partners Will Kennedy and Kate Schneider that drives the album’s direct, full-hearted charm. My personal favorite track was also the first track from the album that I encountered. Sent to me directly from a close personal friend as “brain tumor music,” it took me a week or so to finally open the link. “CVS on a Walk” is a carefully crafted track surprisingly packed full of melodic hooks. The opening soft hiss of tape and spare keyboard is rapidly joined by a moving call and response of lead and rhythm guitar. Kennedy’s voice is lightly gruff. He paints a confident portrait of heavy grayness through hazy imagery of the sky combined with specific cancer-related echoes of phrases spoken or thought in the time since Schneider’s diagnosis. Especially touching for me was the inclusion of the line:
“When you revealed to me /
The noise you made when you seized /
Was you struggling to say my name?/
I lost it”
This verse exemplifies the distillation of one of, if not the most, terrifying moments a family member of someone with brain cancer can experience. I think it is brave to memorialize moments like this in song, and the emotional impact is certain. I had a good long cry after listening.
‘Lily of the Valley’ may not strike you in the same regard, but I would encourage any listener to approach this album with an open heart. I think many will find catharsis within its 30-minute runtime.
Written by Pleasure Tapes
