The Someday Herald. Victory Hall

Thank you, but I already have an Elliot Smith, I said when listening to Victory Hall's opening song, 'Fairytale Sky', until I realised I don't any longer. So, welcome Victory Hall. With The Someday Herald Victory Hall has produced an album with its feet in different eras. The listener can find 60s pop with a minor psychedelic flavour infused. There's more folk-tinged songs and there are enough moments that make it a modern album. Although, that is perhaps mostly because of the mix of the genres and the sound as a whole, which were not possible for say The Hollies in 1967. 'King Midas In Reverse' is a song that comes to mind a few times on this album, one of my favourite The Hollies songs. Mildly psychedelic, yet a far cry from what the band's fans and record company demanded from it at the time.

Victory Hall is Julien Pras, who we know on this blog as the partner of singer-songwriter Helen Ferguson or Queen of the Meadow. Pras, a Frenchman from Bordeaux, does everything to not sound like a Frenchman or chansons. The music on The Someday Herald is as U.K. as it comes. In 1967-68 this album could have been so popular, as the songs are probably far better than most pop bands were able to produce then. At the time it was still, mostly, about singles, Pras has made an album, with the quality that demands.

Almost all instruments you can hear on the album are played by Julien Pras. There are a few exceptions and a few harmony vocals and a duet with Helen Ferguson in 'Golden Times'. The song coming closest to Queen of the Meadow's work. For the rest there is a clear distinction between the couple's individual music.

The Someday Herald overall does not need any big gestures to impress. Victory Hall keeps the songs small. The melodies do the work, not the effects. In that the already mentioned Elliot Smith does come to mind. From there the latter half of the 1960s come in. Undoubtedly the music from that era has made an impression on Julien Pras. Do not expect deep psychedelia of warbling guitars. emotionally flat vocals and Mellotron. Victory Hall is far more subtle in its psychedelia. The song comes first and from there light effects can come in. More in the singing, a slight effect on the vocal perhaps, making the intention more than clear.

The overall result is that The Someday Herald is much more than just an Elliot Smith copy album. It found a place for itself and stands its own ground. With its many and short songs, the album flies by it seems, inviting me to put it on again, immediately. Something I have often done in the past weeks, playing the album twice in a row, wallowing in its atmosphere just a little longer. The Someday Herald is that kind of, if modest, album.

Wout de Natris