Matt Valentine - Blazing Grace (2016)

it can take a lot for a single album to stand out from a discography as epic as MV's, but by the time you're given this one a single spin it becomes very clear that a new apex has been reached. this long in the works solo outing somehow merges nearly every one of the finest elements of past releases into a perfectly executed singular vision. there's an intensely personal, exposed element to the song writing here, increasingly hinted at in the recent past but never so purely focused. likewise the music itself has a honed edge thats both unharnessed yet precise, drifting just enough, but never too far. a newborn musical trajectory wrapped in MV's most loving & elaborate 'spectrasound' production to date, creating a sonic pallet that simply ripples with nuance, tone, and a seemingly bottomless depth of detail. all together, a start-to-finish trip that's instantly memorable & hummable, subtly intimate yet cosmically blasted. restrained yet fully rocking, with that unmistakable burnt, ragged edge. blazing grace indeed… distinctly a solo vibe, but without any shortage of help on board. guests include : ERIKA ELDER, P.G. SIX, MICK FLOWER, SPANISH WOLFMAN, JEREMY EARL, J. MASCIS, MEG BAIRD, PETE NOLAN, MUSKOX, CARSON ARNOLD, and RONGOOSE, all adding to the decidedly rich, earthy, and futuristic sound. endless guitars of every texture, lush mellotron, vibrating harmonies, star-dust synth, hazed rhythms, eastern drones, and far more, all fluidly entwined…