Victoria Langford - Psalm
PREMIERE | VICTORIA LANGFORD RELEASES EXQUISITE ‘PSALM’
Singer-songwriter, composer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Victoria Langford premieres “Psalm” on Rawckus. The song is from her forthcoming debut album, releasing next Spring.
Victoria Langford | Photo: Erin Donner
Explaining “Psalm,” Victoria says, “This is my ‘WTF God’ song. I didn’t grow up with a faith, but became a Christian when I was about 27. I thought by getting married I was doing what God wanted for my life, but then I got into the worst possible marriage. The first two verses, ‘I followed you/ or did I follow me/ you promised me eternity,’ can count for both God and my ex. I’m asking why I wasn’t rescued from this terrible situation, but I also realize that I was—just not on my desired timeline.”
Beginning piano when she was eight-years-old, Victoria later added clarinet and trombone to her repertoire of instruments. Initially exposed primarily to classical music, jazz and film scores then caught her attention, especially Gustav Holst and John Williams. She played in concert band, marching band, and jazz band.
When Victoria’s elegiac voice enters, it discharges timbres of almost Celtic coloration, rife with prayerful frisson.
After graduating college in Michigan, Victoria moved to New York City, where she played jazz, funk, and classical. Fueling an appetite for something new, she played in indie bands, where she jumped into synths and came to appreciate guitars.
A brief but nasty marriage culminated in divorce, a restraining order, and therapy, followed by the cathartic experience, akin to water bubbling up, of writing and producing her impending album. This cusp of transition, or perhaps point vierge, triggered Victoria playing guitar, singing, using recording software, and writing songs, none of which she had done before.
Citing influences such as Feist, Radiohead, St. Vincent, NIN, and Smashing Pumpkins, Victoria’s sound blends indie pop-rock with tantalizing wisps of classical music, resulting in music projecting elegance as well as fields of potent suppressed energy.
“Psalm” opens on soft emerging colors flowing into a pulsing rhythm topped by a strident guitar accompanied by shimmering synths. When Victoria’s elegiac voice enters, it discharges timbres of almost Celtic coloration, rife with prayerful frisson. A delicious piano, graceful strings and sizzling cymbals infuse the tune with a mystical ambiance, adding palpable filaments of arcing hues surging with emotion.
“Psalm” is ineffably superb, original, imaginative, and thrumming with a gentle assertive vitality taking on mounting dynamism and creamy gleaming textures.
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