Los Angeles-based Sam Valdez mourns with the delicate shoegaze of "Funeral"
With lyrics about chainsmoking and neglecting houseplants, "Funeral" might not depict the healthiest ways of coping with grief, but the picture Americana-tinged newcomer Sam Valdez paints is one in which many will find comfort and kinship.
With delicate guitar lines and vocals saturated with melancholy, "Funeral" is a shimmering heartbreak of a track. Valdez explains the new release is "about preserving a memory when the physical part of someone isn't there anymore" – a bittersweet feeling she somehow manages to capture in four minutes of shoegaze haze punctuated by the soft rhythm of tambourine and snare.
There's something magical to Valdez's simple command of a melody that makes "Funeral" resonate long after it fades. Whether you catch the lyrics or not, the track settles around you with a remarkable stillness that harks back to the stunning works of Sylvia Plath, from whom Valdez took particular inspiration. It makes you want to take a moment before breaking the spell and heading back into the outside world.
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