Rogue Valley formed around and ambitious idea in 2009 – to record and release four albums in one year, one for each season, altogether telling an arching story of love, loss, time, landscape and memory. The songs from the Seasons Project have been streamed on YouTube and Spotify millions of times, and have found their way into television and film (most notably on the soundtrack of Ben Stiller’s 2013 film The Secret Life of Walter Mitty). Rogue Valley’s reputation for performing shows with uncommon energy and dynamism grew, and the creative burst of four records led to the band touring the US, playing SXSW, and more recently, the 2015 Iceland Airwaves Festival. Sometimes, you need to know the anxious hurry of a sprint to savor the steady, patient rhythm of a marathon – and the band’s approach to their next album reflects that.
The 2016 follow up album to the Seasons project is radiate/dissolve. Three years in the making, the approach to this album’s conception and execution was the polar opposite of Rogue Valley’s four-album sprint – slow, steady, and purposefully unhurried. Songwriter and frontman Chris Koza introduced new songs to the band slowly, and the group luxuriated in a deliberate, leisurely process with no deadlines, developing the songs more collaboratively in between touring. The new album reflects years of steady performing and the musical bonds developed within the group. A dustier sound permeates the album’s themes of transition and purgatorial spaces, with subtle horns and synth textures weaving throughout Rogue Valley’s propulsive drumming, expansive guitars, and lush vocal harmonies. Keyboardist/vocalist Linnea Mohn sees an expanded role within the group, taking lead vocal on three tracks.
The band will release “radiate/dissolve” with a show at the Fitzgerald with support from Jeremy Messersmith, Nona Marie, Chastity Brown, Joe Horton, and the Laurels String Quartet. Tickets are still available HERE
Image Credit: Cameron Wittig
