Vallis Alps announce their debut album, Cleave, due for release on August 24 via The Orchard (Jungle Giants, Jorja Smith, Skepta). With the news comes the duo’s latest single ‘Higher Than This’ complete with a music video by Tanmay Chowdhary.
A defining statement of evolution, the forthcoming album dissects the desperation of life, where severance gives way to strength; family, vocation, migration, and just plain living. Cleave highlights the two halves of Vallis Alps (Parisa Tossif and David Ansari), capable of flourishing alongside one another no matter how different they may be – a reflection of their friendship and siblinghood, closer than ever before.
‘Higher Than This’ is an epic electro-come-synth pop relay of altruism, kismet and karma. Particularly inspired by Parissa’s experiences with sexism, ‘Higher Than This’ poses the prospect of a legacy spent belittling others juxtaposed against life beyond the glass ceiling. Transforming a stark and fundamentally simple beat into percussion as exotic as those produced by Chris Martin, Vallis Alps deliver an otherworldly atmosphere fronted by considerate soaring vocals like London Grammar.
Visual collaborator Tanmay Chowdhary shares, “My thoughts revolved around using a structure that represents the fragility of the male ego and the abandoned power plant on the edge of the shoreline mirrored it perfectly. We built the narrative around these men who guard a peculiar diamond in this towering plant. Parissa plays the role of a spirit that infiltrates this plant. The eventual demise of the men came in the form of their own self-reflections. The film is a continuation of a language that explores the emotional journey of the album.”
Of ‘Higher Than This’ impetus, Parissa explains, “I am constantly reflecting on my own experiences as a woman in a world that is unequal. I think of the beauty, strength, generosity and advancement of women, and people in general, who continually choose to move forward despite the hurdles, and the richness of their lives, their friendships and their inner worlds. They know what’s ‘higher.’ When writing the song, I was talking to Vetta Borne who co-wrote a lot of the lyrics with me about how held back society is because we continue to fail to give women equal opportunities to men, and show them the respect and honor they deserve. Until then, we will never know our true potential and what we can achieve in every arena.”
Cleave:
- Set It Off, Set It Right
- On The Eve Of The Rush
- Turn It Around
- Ephemera
- For Once
- Start Again
- I’m On My Way
- Everything All You See
- Higher Than This
- You & I
- All The Worlds
- On Highways (aug 4)
