Valleys is a new sound for a new band

Remember when Down With Webster went on hiatus?

If you don’t that’s fine, I admittedly didn’t notice. But did anyone notice when they formed a new band?

Patrick Gillet, Cameron Hunter, Tyler Armes and Andrew Martino — while on hiatus — formed a new band called Honors.

Before we continue, I’ve noted and deducted imaginary and insignificant points from the band for not spelling Honors the proper English way — with a ‘u’.

I won’t lie, I didn’t care too much about Down With Webster, yet somehow I ended up at a few of their concerts. I do however – my opinion is entirely based on the one song by them I’ve listened to – like Honors.

The song I’ve been looking into is Valleys, which was released on Dec. 15, 2017. Despite being a month old, it’s still worth talking about.

If you haven’t yet wiped the dumpster-fire of a year that was 2017 from your mind, take a minute to recall how horrifying it was. The year was a seemingly endless series of questionable decisions and events that, no doubt, we’re going to see the consequences of for years to come.

Honors took all that shit from last year and came out with a song that makes you think: maybe things won’t be okay, but we are still going to make it. The song, inspired by a childhood nightmare, has themes of vulnerability and isolation and, at the same time, resilience to get through whatever storm you’re going through. And isn’t that a sentiment we all need when entering 2018? No matter what, we’ll make it.

The song opens with a piercing guitar that draws you in. Then drops to a smooth but haunting melody in a way I only really associate another Canadian band Timber Timbre. It’s darker than anything you would have heard from DWW, but at the end of the day I guess that’s the point.

The only problem I have with the song are the lyrics. I can’t decide if the repetition was genius or lazy. Probably a bit of both, right?

The song could have easily been a minute shorter but the chorus gets repeated enough times that it pushes it to four minutes. At the same time, you can notice subtle changes in the song that could mark the shift in themes.

I won’t lie though, Valleys is quickly becoming my favourite song for the week. Overall it’s an easy song to listen to, whether you want it in the background or you’re trying to find deeper meaning. The song delivers on both ends.