After 3 months of scattered single releases, Kansas City-based Valentine and his debut album Falling is almost here.
The eccentric producer Valentine’s release of his debut album has been mysterious, yet perfectly predictable. His website, designed by Coltrane, previewed the project’s artwork and releases in a fully interactive virtual Mac desktop for the past 3 months. The entire album has been slowly downloading ever since, with each of the tracks released as “episodes” along the way. By our count, we’re just one song away from the full release after today’s treat, “Backpack”.
Hearing Valentine for the first time is like striking Soundcloud gold. His mastery of quirky leads and pulsing chords is especially memorable and instantly recognizable. Throughout Falling, Valentine displays his versatility within his own sonic realm, jumping genres and delicately balancing glitches with organic timbres.
Valentine’s tracks leave fans and fellow artists collectively losing their minds — and rightfully so. With collaborations from Halpe, Chuck Sutton, Verzache, Blake Skowron, and more, each of whom are well-respected for their savvy sounds, and impressive vocals from Catherine Wong, Harvie, patches, Olu Bliss, and longtime collaborator Sophie Meiers, Falling is not only the vision of Valentine, but that of an entire tight-knit Soundcloud community.
Valentine and co. go even further in the virtual world, with the group throwing online parties and b2bs, including an entire virtual festival on Minecraft called Coalchella. This is the kind of unique community only Soundcloud can build, and curated Spotify playlists simply cannot replace.
Which episode is your favorite so far? Let us know in the comments and watch the countdown for THE FINAL EPISODE OF Falling.
Featured image via OhDagYo photography