Western- and Electronic-tinged Dream Pop duo In the Valley Below formed eight years ago in Los Angeles and their latest album project has a decidedly cinematic flair, not only sonically but also in the very essence of the bold new multimedia work.
Singer/keyboardist Angela Gail and guitarist Jeffrey Jacob released their first ITVB album, The Belt, in 2014, which was just a part of their gradual climb into the consciousness of the Alternative music world. The album’s single “Peaches,” which was actually first released in 2013, inched its way up Billboard’s Alternative Songs chart, peaking at No. 18 nearly three
years after its first release thanks in part to remixes by Bloc Party’s Kele Okereke and Passion Pit.
After parting ways with Capitol Records, the duo signed with independent label Bright Antenna, released the Elephant EP and then set out to create their most ambitious project yet.
As a companion piece to the pair’s just-released sophomore album, The Pink Chateau, Gail and Jacob crafted a unique feature-length film that explores stigma-defying sexual exploration. The duo’s tour for the movie/album (during which they play the music live — broadcast to attendees through headphones — alongside the projected film) has included a string of movie theater dates and visits to film-friendly venues like Cincinnati’s Video Archive.
Gail describes the film in a press release as “a fantasy of an inviting place where female sexuality is a beautiful curiosity and not a shameful secret. Free from the story of the woman being a slut or victim if she is sexual. I was inspired by the beauty of vintage French erotica and cinematic colors from the ’70s and ’80s, and pulled ideas from my own sexual fantasies and experience.”
Here is a definitely NSFW clip from The Pink Chateau featuring the ITVB song “Blue Sky Drugs.”
Crafting an artsy film to compliment her music is fitting for Gail, bringing her full circle from her early days as a video store clerk. As she told Michigan’s Revue Arts in 2015, eccentric filmmaker David Lynch facilitated her early artistic awakening.
“I used to work at Blockbuster Video in Muskegon and I got a copy of Fire Walk With Me, which was the Twin Peaks movie, and that was one of the first experiences that I had with something that wasn’t completely mainstream or commercial and it just completely blew my mind,” she said. “I watched it over and over. That was a moment that changed me creatively.”
The Pink Chateau performance/screening at Walnut Hills’ Video Archive takes place this Sunday (May 5) at 7 p.m. There is no admission charge. To attend you must be 21 or older. Click here for more info. You can register with The Project 100.7/106.3 FM here to receive a free “swag bag” at the event.
