Posted on: February 27, 2012 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

When traveling, there’s often a moment when you realize that the memory of what you just experienced will always pale in comparison with the actual moment in time. The Valery Trails’ latest single, “On the Perfume River” captures both that feeling and that fleeting moment. Songwriter Andrew Bower conjures up a steamy night on the Perfume River in Vietnam with dreamy vocals, repeated, chiming arpeggios and lyrics that invoke the famous tradition of the river. “You light a candle on a paper boat, fashioned after a lotus leaf and set it loose on the river to float away and carry with it something that’s troubling you, or a wish that you want granted,” says Bower.  “On the one hand, kind of cheesy, because we and every other tourist boat were doing it, on the other hand undeniably beautiful as the lights all drifted downstream”. “On the Perfume River” is on The Valery Trails’ debut album Ghosts and Gravity which was released earlier this month. Download the track now: http://glgpub.com/file_download/287/The-Valery-Trails-On-The-Perfume-River.mp3

Andrew and his brother Sean, bassist in Brisbane’s Grand Atlantic, dreamt of forming The Valery Trails for years. The Bower brothers had been separated by half a world, with Andrew residing in Houston and Sean in Australia, but through technology and determination, along with help from Dan McNaulty, drummer for We All Want To, they finally started putting some songs together. Early in 2011, the trio got together for three intense days in the studio, laying down the tracks that Andrew calls “a reunion album by a band that never actually existed until now. ” Ghosts and Gravity, mixed and mastered in Dunedin, New Zealand, is filled with pulsing, oceanic guitar textures which complement Andrew’s voice, creating songs that are angular, ambient, tuneful and disturbing, inhabiting a sonic landscape that’s at once familiar and distinctive.

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