Hanging Valleys have a gorgeous new video for their track “Behind the Backs of Houses” off the UK-based duo’s upcoming EP of the same name out February 28th via Pedro Y El Lobo. The project of Thom Byles and Michael Phillips, the pairs’ ability to craft emotionally rich and transportive music is on full display here. Guitar and keys combine with a mysterious percussive element to create a simmering ambiance before Byles’ falsetto vocals exude a peaceful calm like rays of sunlight through a tree’s dense canopy.
Discussing this disarming and enigmatic track, Byles explains:
“A little garden behind the backs of terraced houses provided the inspiration for this song. Having access to this small wilderness has proven to be grounding, restorative and sacred. Each space has its own ecosystem where rhododendrons, snails, cats and foxes compete for territory. Me, I’m just there for the peace & quiet.”
The video for the track was directed by Andres Arochi and shot by Galo Olivares, who was co-cinematographer on the critically acclaimed film Roma (2018). Shot in a small town in Mexico, the short film is an exploration of aging and one’s connection to place and home. Arochi explains:
“I was inspired by the aesthetics of Mexican Classics. The photographs of Graciela Iturbide and the Golden Age cinematography of Gabriel Figueroa. Don Benito and Doña Eva are not trained actors, which is what gives the scenes such a natural feeling, they are simply interacting with places they have known their whole life. We got there with a clear idea of the emotions we wanted to capture, but it was really the town and the Hacienda of Puruagua that told us the story.”
Each shot in “Behind the Backs of Houses” carries a quiet emotional weight as the loneliness of old age and the expectancy of death are brilliantly realized by Don Benito and Doña Eva. Combined with Olivares’ beautiful cinematography which often uses the interplay between shadows and natural light for metaphorical impact, both video and track here will not be soon be forgotten!
