“The duo are one of this country’s favourites” Pilerats
“Fable is a true testament of Vallis Alps’ signature sound: colourful, intense and catchy” Ones To Watch
“simple, endearing, and of course, catchy as hell” The 405
“Vallis Alps are delivering all the feels” Fashion Journal
“East is one of their most energetic and hard-hitting songs yet” The Line Of Best Fit
“Vallis Alps soar to new electronic heights” The West Australian
Revered electronic duo Vallis Alps, the project of Parissa Tosif and David Ansari, return today with their first new music in five years, the atmospheric ‘Set It Off, Set It Right‘. LISTEN + WATCH HERE.
Evocative of the vibrance and pace of past tracks ‘Oceans‘ and ‘Fading‘, ‘Set It Off, Set It Right‘ affirms the unmistakable sound of Vallis Alps, enhanced with a refined sheen and sonic palette they debut today. Born in the midst of writing trips and recording sessions across Si’ahl / Seattle, Lenape Land / New York, Tongva Land / Los Angeles and Eora / Sydney in 2018-19, ‘Set It Off, Set It Right‘ brings Parissa and David back to their project’s transatlantic routes, completing the song across timezones and Zoom sessions in the course of the pandemic, kicking off a pulsating fresh step in their song-making craft.
Of the release, the duo share “‘Set It Off, Set It Right’ encapsulates the confusion, pain and delight in the breaking points before major life decisions. We built the sonic landscape around handclaps; the sound of hands coming together in the opening seconds of the song felt intimate and primal and ultimately set the tone for a slow crescendo of imperfect instruments – toy pianos, iPhone-memo glockenspiel, detuned synths, yells – culminating into a halftime pressure-release at the end of the song that resolves the tension built throughout.”
Visually, ‘Set It Off, Set It Right‘ enhances those moments of impact, cusps and verges of change, illuminating the tug-o-war of life and partnerships forged along the way. Director, DOP and editor Tanmay Chowdhary (Rolling Stone, Vogue, Nowness). Watch below.
Reflective of the leaps taken in life-altering decisions, and the myriad of emotions that come with following them through, ‘Set It Off, Set It Right‘ is the sonic manifestation of momentum; a mantra to trust the process. Hand-claps stir alongside sparkling synths, springboarded by booming percussion to boost Parissa‘s vocals, shifting in and out of focus as with every deep, faithful breath in oneself, crescendo to finally take flight in a crystalline finish. The result is a soundscape unlike anything yet in the Vallis Alps canon, footnoting a similar balance of intention and passion through all elements of the creative as James Blake, Mount Kimbie or London Grammar.
Led by purposeful production and strong, empowered vocals, ‘Set It Off, Set It Right‘ is inspired by the steps Parissa and David have both taken in beginning their own families, moving abroad and building their creative careers, including Parissa becoming a mother and her admittance and entrance as a practising lawyer and David‘s most recent launch of his ebullient solo project Davey and Podcrushed, the podcast where Penn Badgely, Nava Kavelin and Sophie Ansari explore the heartbreak, anxiety and self-discovery of being a teenager with notable guests: Amy Schumer, Drew Barrymore, Lisa Kudrow, Mark Ronson and more.
Today’s new release also speaks to the ways in which Parissa and David have had to come apart to get back together again, of the recalibration in the creative and personal relationship. This new single, they reveal, is “an ode to breaking from the past into a better and more truthful future. Of the moment we deliberately chose to switch up and repair the dynamics and direction of our longstanding friendship to be more unified.”
Following on from their much-celebrated debut release, ‘Young‘ (Certified ARIA Gold), which culminated in their self-titled debut EP, the band then shared their 2017 follow-up EP Fable as well as standalone singles ‘So Settled‘ and ‘Oceans‘ which drew international praise; consecutive entries across triple j‘s Hottest 100 from 2015-17; sold out 40 date tours across the US, UK, Europe and Australia alongside appearances across SXSW, The Great Escape, Reading and Leads Festival, Splendour In The Grass, Falls Festival, Groovin’ The Moo, Spilt Milk, Listen Out and more; produce remixes for Troye Sivan with ‘EASE‘ and Matt Maeson on ‘Hallucinogenics‘ alongside a cover of The Shins‘ ‘New Slang‘ for triple j’s Live A Version; and garner a discography boasting half a billion streams globally – all achieved as a fiercely independent outfit.
Through ‘Set It Off, Set It Right‘, Vallis Alps pick up where they notably left off.
‘Set It Off, Set It Right‘ is out now, buy/stream it here.