The first thing which I picked up on when listening to the Strange Valentines latest single Rural Abyss was the grindingly beautiful guitar riffs. Teamed up with the bass the two instruments create a low down and dirty melody which wouldn’t be out of place on a Nick Cave or Cramps track. That’s not to say the Americana Country Folk vocals didn’t bowl me over; they bowled me over, sunk their teeth into me and made me bleed the same rhythmic fluidity that was soulfully pouring into the mike. The passion that goes into the vocal offerings is more than palpable, through each lyrically waxed line your treated to stabbings of pensive sentiment. Yet around the melancholy of the Strange Valentines sound, you’re also treated to their playful sensibility in the form of tantalisingly captivating Folk Rock Blues.
You can check out The Strange Valentines single Rural Abyss along with the rest of their 2018 album ‘Society of Good Intentions’ out on SoundCloud now. Each track on their album is as sensational as the last, my firm second favourite track definitely had to be ‘Don’t Give Your Email to Strangers’. That’s some sound advice right there.
Review by Amelia Vandergast.
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