Valiancy – Voices

The modern dream pop music scene thrives right now, with many incredible artists releasing music that pushes this genre to new, uncharted territories. Still, many of those artists fail in delivering something new, as they often rely on qualities that made this genre quite popular in the first place. Thankfully, there are music outlets like Valiancy willing to break all the rules in order to create something fresh, unique, innovative, and exciting, a music release that arrives like a breath of fresh air in this longstanding music genre. With “Voices,” his first standalone single released this year, this American singer-songwriter proves that dream pop can go far beyond anything you have heard before. It’s a fine piece of sonic artistry that lyrically explores fighting the negative self-talk and the voices in our heads. It tackles various sentiments, moods, situations, and circumstances, making it a highly relatable composition that will immediately resonate with the audience. Although “Voices” carries all the fundamental elements of dream pop, you’ll also stumble upon some other styles along the way. Valiancy uses various approaches, techniques, and directions to elevate this composition to an entirely new level, so you’ll hear how music genres like synth pop, indie pop, indie rock, and electronica found their way into this sonic equation. With all tools of the trade and sonic arsenal on this disposal, Valiancy proves that dream pop, when done right, can sound exciting just like you’ve heard it for the first time.

As soon as you press play, you’ll stumble upon carefully, tastefully, and thoughtfully crafted interplay between multiple synth layers. Ranging from calm, soothing, relaxing, ethereal pads and various clean layers to more generously distorted leads and chord progressions, these synth works define the lush atmosphere of the entire composition. Valiancy further expands this sonic vocabulary by introducing even more leads, themes, melodies, harmonies, accentuations, ambient pads, and other similar instrumentations, which, in one way or another, introduce polished or distorted layers. It’s nearly mindblowing how all these orchestrations articulate throughout the entire track without overwhelming each other. Also, it’s good to mention that even those distorted articulations, which are vividly presented in the mix, are not spoiling the calm, ethereal, otherworldly quality of the song. Everything is so perfectly constructed to satisfy even the pickiest listeners, making “Voices” one of the finest synth-driven dream pop songs in recent years. In the meantime, Valiancy’s exceptional vocal performance acts as a centerpiece, elevating everything to new heights, commanding attention, and guiding listeners on this epic voyage through the expansive sonic universe. You’ll immediately notice how all those soulful, emotive, sincere, confident vocal harmonies balance between low, mid, and high notes, emphasizing everything this incredible artist intended to achieve with this song. Besides decorating all the segments and instrumentations, the vocal performance contributes more than necessary emotional depth and complexity to an already intricate song structure. You’ll also notice how additional vocals, back vocals, and sing-alongs give this song more depth and detail in all the right places.

This composition wouldn’t sound complete without the equally impressive rhythm section. You’ll hear how basslines rumble beneath all those lush vocal harmonies and synth works, offering more than necessary heaviness, clarity, and depth while simultaneously acting as a binding element that glues together all those mentioned instrumentations with rhythmic patterns. Those rich, deep, dense, distorted synth basslines give more power, groove, and detail to the entire song without overwhelming other instruments. The cleverly assembled, flawlessly programmed, well-accentuated beats, breaks, fills, and other rhythmic sequences offer half-time pace, more groove, and keep the remainder of the orchestrations in line. Every hit of the snare, kick of the bass drum, accentuation over hi-hats, and splash over the cymbals make this composition even more groovy and detailed. As you can see and hear, each instrument has its place and purpose, maximizing the impact of such an incredible song. If you crave a soulful, emotive, fascinating dream pop music where all the vocal, sonic, and rhythmic maneuvers collide in the most beautiful way, then “Voices” will be right up your alley. Through this song, Valiancy not only delivers one of the most impressive dream pop works in recent years but also sets the bar high for other artists interested in this genre. His creativity, ideas, musicianship, experience, and knowledge go beyond comprehension so many times during this track that you’ll gladly spin this dream pop gem all over again. You should immediately place “Voices” on your music radar, because this highly skilled artist deserves your utmost attention.