Herself is one of the many
musical guises of former Lay Llamas member Gioele Valenti and under this moniker
he has record several records of apocalyptic folk lo-fi songs that have been
described as a harmonious meeting between Sparklehorse, Gravenhurst and Will
Oldham. For the Gleaming EP Herself has joined forces with The Laissez Fairs,
the hip, happening, maximum Mod Psych freakout band from Las Vegas led by ex
Steppes member John Fallon, to create a wonderfully beguiling collection of five
Psychedelic/Folk songs that radiate with warmth and beauty. It’s a record of
delicate Psych tinted Alt-Folk that summons the ghost of Nick Drake to come and
hang with Mercury Rev mixed with a more Psych Rock feel as John Fallon and Joe
Lawless from the Laissez Fairs fill in the gaps left in Herself’s lo-fi
sketches.
Opening with the fragile ‘Torches
(Part I)’, a gentle Psych Folk song bathed in sumptuous mellotron and organ
giving the track a pastoral Canterbury psychedelic
seventies vibe, Gleaming is a million miles away from the Lay Llamas Psychedelic
Electronic Afrorock groove. Although ‘I Don't Mind’ and ‘Torches (Part II)’
have a more Psych Rock feel with Fallon’s guitars reminiscent of classic
Electric Prunes and Kinks as they swirl out in a lysergic blur, at its heart
this is an excellent record that channels 90s US Alt-Folk/Rock. Both ‘The River’ and
the closing track ‘Nihil’ are must a listen for fans of the likes of Mercury
Rev, Flaming Lips and Sparklehorse…………this really is a wonderful record and a
full album from this collaboration would be a real treat.
The Gleaming EP has been
out for a few months now and is well worth checking out. Released by DeAmbula Records, Gleaming is available on CD and as a download from the Herself bandcamp page at http://herself1.bandcamp.com/releases. We had planned to review this with Gioele Valenti’s other project Ju Ju but it looks like that has been put back till May........so keep a sharp eye out for that.
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