Album Review
Ed Vallance – Volcano
Volcano is the second album from singer Ed Vallance, a Londoner who now lives in Brooklyn. It is very different from his 2008 debut, The Modern Life, which was an acoustic folk/ indie mix. For Volcano, Vallance has adopted more of a mainstream pop cum rock persona, which allows for far more vocal expression and he uses the opportunity very well.
Produced by Mark Ephraim (New Pornographers, Joan As Policewoman, Dirty On Purpose), the album features expansive harmonies and layered instrumentation and sounds big and fresh, although on a few occasions the mix does rather drown out Vallance’s voice, which is a shame.
The excellent single Crystalline opens the album, and is its best track. The backing is distorted with a nice keyboard intro before the vocals come in. Vallance has a soulful and resonant voice that is perfectly described by that wonderful word mellifluous. Rising and falling through the track, the vocals are complement by a very guitar solo and the chorus is anthemic, more rock than pop really.
There are a number of good songs on the album, and Vallance shows that he has a range of talents. Seabird is a lovely track where he demonstrates that he can sing in the higher registers too, although the vocals are a little overtaken by the keyboards. Cowboys and Indians is slower with a big production that includes an insistent drum beat and more lovely guitar work, and while the vocals fade into the background in the middle, Vallance has the power to regain the focus of the music.
The lively Black & White Light could be a future single, a fast paced track with a great bass line running through it and strong vocals that rise and fall. While the lyrics are a little repetitive it has a radio friendly feel. South Circular is another good uptempo track. Lyrically it offers some nice imagery around the rather mundane theme of driving in circles and Vallance’s soulful voice makes it all sound rather profound before a long instrumental section ends the song.
Dear Misfortune has a rather odd distorted intro before the guitar kicks in with a strong melody and the vocals follow. Vallance here stretches his vocal chords a little and the effect is a harsher tone that suits the song well. And Famous Last Words ends the album very nicely. A rock ballad with big chords, this one offers Vallance another chance to display his impressive range. It closes with the drums and guitar working together to put a final seal on proceedings.
The cast of musicians assembled to back Ed Vallance’s fine voice add a lot to this album. Vallance is a good songwriter and has the vocal talents to deliver across a range of approaches, from the dreamy and textured to the big anthemic choruses. This fine album should get him the attention that his music clearly deserves.