Valiancy's "Voices": A Reckoning in Static and Silence

"Voices" by Valiancy is here in a "not so nice" way. Instead of walking into your personal space, it sneaks into your space! Kind of like when a cool guy spills a beer on the concrete after 2 am and leaves the smell of marijuana floating through the air.

Kyle Harris wrote, recorded, produced, and mixed everything for Valiancy's album Voice at Venice International Studios. The result is Valiancy's "Voices" is not just a record; it has become an event of sorts.

Voices are described by one writer as "the dark side of the Hero's Journey." This is a song about the struggle against the voices (thoughts) that are constantly playing in our heads when we're alone, any time after 11 pm or when the lights are off, and how those same thoughts contribute to our survival.

Voices uses Moog Synths not for their nostalgic quality but, rather, to create pressure in the form of swelling and buckling sounds. Valiancy's use of vocals creates a haunting yet human atmosphere (cracked) reminiscent of Peter Gabriel's emotional reach colliding with James Blake's use of space. And then removing the safety net.

Valiancy's "Voices" are about fighting your inner voice. Harris does not glamorize the dark; he walks through it instead. Harris's experience in accomplishing this accomplishes the Hero's Journey not in triumph, but in survival. Step for step, breath for breath. The ultimate outcome, noise, then silence.

In both visual and audio senses, Valiancy establishes trustworthiness by not giving in to the lure of polish for polishing’s sake. The album has grit; it has ash; it has intention. With his 17 works to date, Harris understands that to exhibit control often demonstrates power; and being honest shows the listener how they can also be a person of belief (showing faith in Harris’s art).

"Voices" is an example of how not to ask but earn the listener's attention.