With their third LP, The Valley, Eisley comes off as more orchestrated, more mature, and more inspiring than ever. In the four years since their last album, each of the respective DuPrees experienced a low personal valley (hence the title), and most of the songs reflect shock, bitterness, resentment, and recovery from sudden heartbreak. The musicians make you feel their raw but eventually optimistic pain with relatable lyrics crafted around airy layers of melodies and a few tracks marked by the sort of wailing solos that bring you down to the depths of the moment the despair hit. Plus, Sherri and Stacy DuPree have ridiculously clear, angelic voices that even sound pretty when they’re fuming at “you and all your friends who didn’t like me” and “that apocryphal wedding.” Harmonies abound, as usual – a highlight being the Fleetwood Mac-esque vocal layering of “whoas” in “Oxygen Mask.”
Don’t assume this is entirely an angry-chicks-using-art-to-emotionally-murder-their-wrongdoers album. Granted, a small portion of it is. You’ll definitely want to leave a copy of “Smarter” on your ex’s doorstep, and nothing will chill your bones if “Please” doesn’t. But what you’ll really hear on The Valley is a family re-grouping following low points in their lives. What is music if not cathartic? As they realize in “Ambulance,” “I’m gonna be ok, but it doesn’t seem that way.” Not all anger becomes twisted into an “Adam’s Song” miasma of depression and giving up. This album presents proof that music can help get anyone through anything.
The Valley is due out March 1 via Equal Vision Records.
