The Philadelphia band 22º Halo have been at it for a few years now, but they’re first crossing my radar with Lily Of The Valley, the spectacular new album they released last week. I discovered it through the new edition of Chicago music journalist Josh Terry’s excellent weekly newsletter, No Expectations, to which you should definitely subscribe if you like indie rock, indie folk, and various rootsy, jammy, meditative permutations therein.
The sound of Lily Of The Valley is what first grabbed me. 22º Halo have developed a unique, enrapturing take on indie rock. It’s on the softer, artsier side of the genre, but there’s nothing sleepy about its inventive arrangements. The music is spacious and minimal yet always overflowing with ideas — like Hovvdy putting their cozy audio gauze around bar italia’s spindly indie-pop, or maybe Alex G remixing Yo La Tengo. I hear a lot of Talk Talk in there too. Frontman Will Kennedy is a rich yet understated singer, a bit like Markus Acher from the Notwist or maybe David Bazan if his voice were a bit higher. On the whole it’s incredibly beautiful stuff, yet it’s elevated even farther when you learn the backstory.
Kennedy wrote the album in response to his partner and musical collaborator Kate Schneider’s brain cancer diagnosis. There are lots of lyrics about “waiting for results,” assurances that the hair will grow back, etc., and the prevailing plaintive mood of the music is an ideal fit for the subject matter. In an Instagram post last week, he elaborated:
Lily of the valley is out today. It’s about my life with Kate’s cancer. Started out as an album for her ended up as an album for me. It’s about our love as a buoy during the time of Kate’s cancer diagnosis + treatment. It’s helped me feel less alone in being a caretaker. Its helped me hold onto hope when Kate gets MRI scans every two months to see if her cancer has come back.
It’s so hard to see someone’s body deteriorate in front of you and know you can’t do anything to stop it. It’s infuriating to hold your wife as she mourns the loss of her old life, and you can’t bring it back. Her cancer feels endlessly serious to me, and yet when I’m around other people, I can’t stop making jokes. – I’m hoping this album can hold some levity without losing this seriousness. I know me and Kate could talk about her cancer forever, but I fear that I’m coming across as long winded, or harping too much on the topic. I just want people to see Kate over and over again, because she’s been through fucking hell, and now with a hat on, her scar isn’t even visible.
Iily of the valley is about the little things I notice and love about Kate, and letting that fill my mornings. What’s holier than holding onto someone you love?
Hopefully this album can feel special to you in some way
Love
Will
Stream Lily Of The Valley below.
Lily Of The Valley is out now via Tiny Library.
