Every Valley is the third album from Public Service Broadcasting, and the follow up to 2015’s acclaimed The Race for Space.
The first thing that strikes you about the album is the musical palette – for the most-part, the heavy electronics are less obvious, so the result is a much more guitar-driven album than its predecessor.
Recorded in southern Wales (Ebbw Vale), Every Valley is centered around the Welsh mining industry, particularly coal mining. The album subtly touches on the obvious politics (on the track All Out) – so it does not detract from the story of massive economic and social change. Yes, I know these changes were mainly a result of politics, but honing in on the miners strike and the huge upheaval instigated by the Conservative Government in the mid-80s would have made this a less personal album, and taken away from the very real emotion in the words and music.
The buzzing of strings usher in the opening title track, and what a beautiful way to start the album. A sampled reading from the deep, warm tones of Richard Burton sit atop a wonderful drum pattern, softly evolving guitar lines and delicious strings. The production on this album is a massive step up from The Race for Space.
The Pit has Fleetwood Mac Tusk meets Running Up That Hill inspired dry drums. A bubbling synth runs alongside blasts of solo orchestral instrumentation and beautifully chorused guitar. Its a richly rewarding piece of music.
An old 70s coal-board advert prefaces People Will Always Need Coal, the most electronic track on the album. I love the 1980 Talking Heads-like groove on this song.
“There’s more to mining than dust and dirt”
Progress features Tracyanne Campbell from Camera Obscura on lead vocals, and whilst it is a rare positive lyric, it also acts as a way of making the forthcoming songs of decay and destruction feel even more sombre.
All Out is the section of the album that directly deals with the miners strike. Angry crowds underpin the brutal guitars, as the samples tell the story of men and women who just wanted to go to work, to do their jobs, to support their families. Its at this point that you realise that this album is more than a document about a time, and a place, and an industry that is long since destroyed. Its an album about the disconnect and the simmering discontent of the world we live in now. History is repeating itself.
James Dean Bradfield from Manic Street Preachers lends his vocals to Turn No More. Its a strong performance, and I like the fact that the music is quite restrained at times, which makes the message so much more powerful.
Every Valley is a chronicle of the men and women of the mining community. They Gave Me A Lamp is a beautiful piece, from the perspective of the women in the communities, and features members of the Derbyshire trio Haiku Salut.
You + Me is a departure on the album. A jazzy, live sounding performance that features a Welsh / English duet between Lisa Jen Brown and PSB’s J Willgoose Esq. The aching strings of the end section are one of the album’s highlights.
The drum pattern is almost an exact copy of David Bowie’s Five Years, so I hope I am forgiven for being confused when Soul Love is not the next song on the album.
Mother Of The Village brings the story towards its bitter conclusion, and reminds me a little of the wonderful Mogwai soundtrack to Les Revenants (The Returned).
“And you begin to realise what you mean by the death of a village”
As the album drawws to an end, the desperate state of the communities is now apparent, with empty pubs and disappearing shops. The Beaufort Male Choir close the album, with the moving Take Me Home.
“Take me home.. let me sing again..”
Every Valley is shaping up to be a much more satisfying album than The Race for Space, which I loved at the time, but don’t find myself returning to as much. This album has a deep emotional core that will keep drawing you back to the stories and the songs that live in Every Valley.
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