Valleys

Having worked together musically for some time, the Montreal-based duo Valleys issued their first album, Sometimes Water Kills People, on Semprini Records in 2009. Multi-instrumentalists Matilda Perks (keys, guitar, sequencer) and Marc St. Louis (guitar, keyboards, drums) share songwriting and vocal duties, shaping a sound of dreamily atmospheric electronic pop with guitars that balances melancholy emotion against unfailingly melodic sweetness. They issued a pair of EPs—2010’s Stoner and 2011’s River Phoenix—while performing live and refining their style. The duo then signed with New York’s Kanine Records and recorded with producer Alec Dippie of the British post-punk group the Monochrome Set. Are You Just Going to Stand There and Talk Weird All Night? centers on loss, encompassing family deaths for Perks and the close of a relationship for St. Louis, as well as contrasting responses such as Perks’ Shambhala Buddhist beliefs and St. Louis’ process of maturation. The album appeared in early 2013 as the band embarked on a North American tour.