Sarah De Valliere – [Album]

Sarah De Valliere
The Healing
(independent)
The Healing is one of the most beautiful albums I have heard in a long time. De Valliere’s vocals and piano are sweet and lush. Her melodies caress the ears. The music is soulful pop, with touches of blues and jazz, as well as orchestral flourishes. The recording is exquisite; every instrument is clear and crisp.

More important, it leaves you feeling beautiful. This is not just an album about healing, as the title indicates, it is healing itself, as the best music can be. After listening, you feel like the world is a better place, that positive possibilities abound.

But first we have to go through the challenges. The opening cut, “Goddess of the River,” is about a baiji, an extinct river dolphin of China. The final nail in its coffin was the Three Gorges Dam. The tune is a slow and mournful piano melody, with accents of violin emphasizing the sadness. But the song remains hopeful:

It’s never too late to fail.
It’s never too late to mend.
I may be dammed
but it’s never too late.

This tale of hope amidst loss sets the stage for the rest of the album.

The title song, next up, introduces the main theme, while picking up the tempo. To a lively, rolling piano, she sings:

These memories are just a feeling —
the space between the hurting and the healing.
So hold on to the feeling.
Hold on to the healing.

Here, she sets up the challenge of the album, to provide that healing, to herself and to her listeners.

In “Lay My Ego Down,” De Valliere recognizes that the first step in healing, especially healing a damaged relationship, is to take responsibility for oneself. Musically, the song touches on blues, as she confronts her own failings, and tells herself what she must do.

Then De Valliere seems to take a sharp turn away from her theme. “Saint Anne” describes an unfinished painting by Da Vinci. But this hymn-like tune touches on creativity, a mother’s love, and an acceptance of what is to come, all key elements in healing.

“Empty Sky” opens with the line, “In 1914 Martha died at a Cincinnati zoo.” Who was Martha? How did she die? Martha was the last passenger pigeon. Yes, we are back to extinct animals. We are back to mourning the losses of the world, but the song makes them personal, by imagining the feelings of a woman, now “old and lonely,” who marveled at bird darkened skies when she was a young girl.

Perhaps thinking about those missing birds, or the other scars of life, “When Daybreak Comes” finds De Valliere worrying into the night. But she can still find the hopeful note. “If I make it through/ when daybreak comes/ I’ll think of you.”

Without a lyric sheet, I struggled with “Fishwife Advent.” It could be the story of a woman who lost her husband to sea. Yet there are hints of a tale of a selkie, a sea creature which takes human form to find love, but inevitably returns to the sea. In any event, it is another tale of loss, of lives lost, whether physical lives or a way of life. Soaring melodies on piano and guitar bring the loss to life.

The final three songs return to the main theme. In fact, they embody it perfectly. “Pour Over Me” discusses how art can be healing, and demonstrates how we need others to heal. “Please pour over me/ while I pour over you.” We need to share our talents and emotions to be whole. In “All Is Not Lost,” the message is the title.

All is not lost.

I promise you will find
Search through this rubble
Things that matter have survived.
“Have a Little Faith: wraps things up nicely:
Can I step back?
Can I walk away?
Can I go off the path
and be a little late?
Can I relax?
Can I make a few mistakes?
Can I take a little chance
and have a little faith
in you?

These three songs make up a suite concluding the album. They bring together the thoughts and feelings. They flow into each other, and all feature the lush production, clear piano and strong vocals which characterize the rest of the album. They even work as a single piece, linked by mutual lyrical and musical themes.

This does point up the one weakness I found on the album. There is a certain similarity between the songs. The slower laments stand out, but much of the rest blends together. Mid-tempo piano ballads, beautiful melodies, but nothing that jumps out.

This is not a totally bad thing. This is an album which should be taken as a whole. The flow of the songs is key. The album feels unified, building to the three song finale. If you’re having a bad day, if you feel in need of some healing yourself, put it on and sink into the beauty, the peace, the curative forces of the music. [G. Murray Thomas]

Artist:
https://sarahdevalliere.com/
https://sarahdevalliere.bandcamp.com/album/the-healing
https://www.youtube.com/c/SarahDeValli%C3%A8re

Listen:
Sarah De Vlliere – The Healing [Album] – Youtube

Album:
The Healing is out now, Buy it here, directly from the artist. https://sarahdevalliere.bandcamp.com/album/the-healing

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