Valley Queen are a psych-indebted folk quartet situated on the Left Coast, and Supergiant is the debut album they’ve been (officially) teasing since April. With its July 13 release date set in stone, the manifestly LA-based musicians are serving up a fourth tempting preview with their latest single, “Ride.” Like its predecessors—including the contents of their 2017 Destroyer EP—“Ride” is largely defined by frontwoman Natalie Carol’s sweeping, slick vocals (how slick? Grace Slick.) and sunny guitar, together more sprawling and less to-the-point than “Boiling Water” and Supergiant’s title track, both shared last month.
“I create and I destroy / It’s not wrong, but it’s not right,” coos a conflicted Carol, who penned the track after a pregnancy scare. “The song grapples with desire to move and the groundedness that motherhood requires,” she explains. “I dedicate this song to women that have chosen to be mothers—as well as those that have chosen not be mothers—and the courage that both paths require.”
Catch VQ on tour this fall with Justin Townes Earle and *squints at cue card* Social Distortion?
10/13 – Minneapolis, MN – 7th St Entry
* = w/ Social Distortion & Justin Townes Earle
Supergiant is out July 13 on Roll Call Records. You can preorder it here.
