War imagery almost always acts as a powerful force in music, especially when referencing the direct effects of loss and subsequent anger, confusion and emotionality on the homefront. Such is the evocative subject matter of the 4AD debut single and video from U.S. Girls, the Toronto-based dancehall avant-punk project of Meg Remy. Entitled “Damn That Valley”, the song—heavily influenced by Sebastian Junger’s book War—is a tastefully pop-infused anti-hymn, with an incredibly weighty message. Remy incarnates the voice of a young widow, whose husband lost his life fighting for his country. She poetically captures the feelings of bafflement, resentment and anger towards the government, with the lamenting refrain, “where is my man?” The video contains equally effective imagery from the widow’s perspective, standing in front the various monuments of Washington DC, and lashing her arms out in languishing futility. The song’s meaning and the video’s overt gravity contrasts curiously with its danceable beat, forcing questions and second looks not only in music, but in government and life as a whole.
Remy will head out on a short European tour in May followed by a New York stop (dates below). A formal U.S Girls release on 4AD has yet to be announced, but is scheduled for sometime “later in 2015.”
U.S. Girls tour dates
May
14 London, UK
15 Paris, France at Silencio
16 Aarhus, Denmark at Pop Revo Festival
17 Ghent, Belgium at Balzaal Vooruit
20 New York, NY at Elvis Guesthouse
