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MH-251 Loden - Valeen Hope  Valeen Hope, Loden’s first full-length release, is a collection of singularly beautiful shoegaze inspired electronic work. Across twelve compositions, rays of early ‘90s pop melody shimmer through layers of deconstructed beats and oceans of ambient synth noise. Valeen Hope’s majestic sheaths of sound have drawn comparisons to contemporary artists like M83 and Air, and even the mighty My Bloody Valentine, making it feel strangely familiar yet completely fresh. Written as he was traveling between Holland and his native Belgium, Loden deals in emotions often suppressed in beat-driven music; digital sounds are skillfully manipulated to convey feelings of longing or discovery. Valeen Hope is a stunningly mature album from a talented young producer. |
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| Reviews Summary |
| It hisses and crackles with a singular, burning instensity - The Wire / Mush has just unleashed a one-man production machine - XLR8R / There are plenty of highlights on this excellent debut album - Holland Rocks / Will call the listener back again and again – Igloo |
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| Loden's debut album, recorded in Brussels and Amsterdam, some time in the making and part of a not vast repertoire, was issued in 2005 on the Eat label. However, such was the reputation it garnered that Mush have decided to reissue it. A good decision. On Valeen Hope, it's as if Loden has dumped his entire kit of keyboards, circuitry, and laptop into a campfire, trying it all in the flames to see what of its "essence" remains. It hisses and crackles with a singular, burning instensity, as if slowly and painfully evolving from electronica into some sort of neo-folk. By the title track, an acoustic guitar emerges as accompaniment, as if to assist the music in this painful return to the "organic." - The Wire |
