\u201cStrange\u201d would be one way of describing this third effort by Toronto-based Valery Gore. Another way of describing Idols In The Dark Heart<\/i> would be \u201cbeautiful triumph.\u201d This is a self-funded DIY project, without any record label backing, and is partly funded by the Ontario Arts council. <\/p>\n
But there is absolutely nothing about Idols<\/i> that even remotely hints of its DIY roots. Gore availed the use of Apple\u2019s Logic and made a lot of the music on this record solitary on a computer. However, Idols<\/i> is exquisitely produced with no compromise whatsoever, and it sounds on par with any pop record. In fact, if you take the name \u201cValery Gore\u201d out of the equation, this release could have come from someone like Peter Gabriel, PJ Harvey, St. Vincent, or Bjork.<\/p>\n
This brings us to the \u201cstrange\u201d part. Gore is unlike any artist, and most certainly Idols<\/i> is unlike any other album that one would usually encounter. This disc has the caliber of the albums by any of the aforementioned artists; and much like any album by the aforementioned artists, Idols<\/i> is elegant, beautiful, and absolutely unique.<\/p>\n
Gore\u2019s words, although abstract, have as melodious and rhythmic a ring to them as the accompanying music, and appear as if they were poems first and words to a song later. Due to this, all of Idols <\/i>has a very personal narrative-like feel, especially the sparser numbers like \u201cS.O.\u201d and \u201cHummingbird In Reverse,\u201d where Gore sounds like she is actually performing poetry.<\/p>\n
The musical complexity is as extraordinary as the music itself. On one hand, there are straight up catchy electronic indie pop numbers like \u201cLungs\u201d and \u201cChinook;\u201d then there are its odder \u2013 and definitely more interesting \u2013 siblings, \u201cClean Break,\u201d \u201cEvergreen,\u201d and \u201cWith The Future\u201d with their quirky song structures. There is also a jazz-influenced, chamber pop aspect to this album on tracks such as \u201cCharacter Girls, Quiet Guys,\u201d \u201cJuly,\u201d \u201cAmsterdam,\u201d and \u201cNew Year\u2019s Eve,\u201d which are more organic and meticulously arranged, featuring instruments both conventional and unconventional. <\/p>\n
Gore does a phenomenal job of making the eccentricity of Idols<\/i> accessible, which is why this album is nothing short of a masterpiece. This album might not have reached the exposure it deserves, but there is no doubt that this is a groundbreaking, one-of-a-kind record.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":40,"featured_media":32218,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[9547],"rating":[5646],"class_list":["post-43970","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-valery-gore","rating-rating-a"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/43970","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/40"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43970"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/43970\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32218"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43970"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=43970"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=43970"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}