When the lush folks songs you’ve been recording for years sound nearly identical to most of the discography of a respected indie label, there’s really no reason why you shouldn’t point this out to said label. Such was the case with Brian Collins and his Hurt Valley moniker, whose chipper Americana echoed the sounds of Woods and their kind-of-titular label, Woodsist.
A science teacher at a Hollywood high school by day, Collins’ moonlighting gig is getting a big boost from Woodsist this winter as his first proper album is being put out through the Jeremy Earl–founded label after Earl couldn’t seem to get the demo tracks out of his head. With the cautionary “Apartment Houses” as a lead single, we’re introduced to HV’s ’60s roots-rock charm and BC’s wild imagination.
“The song is about people who you think you know well, but through some toxic event, you come to find you don’t know them at all, and vice versa,” Collins notes. “It’s like that time you thought you were holding someone’s hand, but they were holding your hand, only to drag you into the woods and throw you into a pit of snakes.”
Glacial Pace, it’s out December 6 on Woodsist. You can pre-order it here.
