Today, the new Athens emo folk project Valley of Giants, fronted by singer-songwriter Malie Kato with Iain Cooke on instrumentation, debuts its song “Causation” with a live session video from Ear Bonez Studio. Joining the duo for this performance is Julia Barfield.
Valley of Giants describes itself as blending “folk’s storytelling roots with emo’s raw vulnerability, creating music for anyone who has missed something they can’t quite name” while turning “personal confession into something deeply communal.” Aiming to blur the line between tradition and invention, Valley of Giants does so with subtle earnest that gives the young band a familiar feeling already. Ahead of the official streaming release of “Causation,” the live session video provides a very intimate introduction to the band.
“‘Causation’ feels like the right doorway into Valley of Giants because it captures both the intimacy and the expansiveness we’re trying to build. Musically, it’s very representative of our sound, that blend of quiet, confessional storytelling with something larger and more soaring. A lot of my songs usually come from a very specific memory or day in my life, but ‘Causation’ is different. It comes from a subject I’ve been wrestling with since I was a kid. I remember lying awake one night, unable to sleep, watching these hours-long panels of physicists debating whether free will actually exists. That question stuck with me, and the song came out of that wrestling,” says Kato.
Kato continues, “So while it doesn’t trace back to one concrete memory, it’s still deeply personal. It’s about how those questions live in all of us, whether we’ve named them or not. And in that way, it represents the heart of Valley of Giants, taking something private and contemplative and opening it up into a space where others can find themselves, too. Iain Cooke and Julia Barfield figured out the harmonies and helped bring it all to life in a way I’m eternally grateful for. If you listen to ‘Causation,’ you’ll hear the DNA of everything else we’re working on.”
This live studio session comes courtesy of Ear Bonez Studio, which has been collaborating with songwriters through the Ear Bonez Sessions to produce high-quality yet stripped-back session videos. Kato says that despite nerves and feelings of imposter syndrome, working with Roth, who runs the studio, was natural and easy.
“I was pretty excited because Ear Bonez Studio is an iconic part of the Athens’ music scene. So many artists that I admire and respect perform there. To walk into that space myself felt both thrilling and a little daunting. I’d never been in a studio like that before, so I didn’t really know what to expect,” says Kato. “I definitely tried to prepare: vocal exercises two or three times that morning, warmups again in the car on the way over. And I put a lot of thought into it the night before, picking out my outfit, working on my makeup, because it felt important.”
After all, at the core of Valley of Giants is a lot of raw emotion and personal transparency that leaves the bandmembers in a place of vulnerability. Kato walked Flagpole through their songwriting process of taking those vulnerable moments and molding them into something more communal.
“For me, writing usually begins with picking at my guitar and humming a little melody, just feeling out the vibe and letting it guide me. I’ll think about a memory or an emotion and experiment until certain words start to surface, sometimes even the mouth shapes I’m making push me toward specific words. From there, I get very deliberate with my choices. Even if I’m writing about something I personally experienced, I try to shape it in a way that gives listeners room to connect it to their own lives,” says Kato.
“Take a song like ‘Better Not Wait,’ which will be on the debut Valley of Giants album. It’s about a very specific highway, on a very specific day at the beach with someone I care about. But underneath that setting, it’s simply about wanting to confess a deep love. That honesty with myself is what allows the song to remain genuine while also translating into something universal. That’s the balance I’m always chasing: Keeping the confession true to me, but open enough that others can step into it and find themselves there.”
Valley of Giants will perform at Hendershot’s on Friday, Oct. 17 with Sunset Honor Unit and Spitehound. Doors open at 7 p.m. with music at 8 p.m., and tickets will be $10 in advance or $15 at the door.
Keep up with news from Valley of Giants and an update on when the track goes live across streaming platforms on Instagram at instagram.com/valleyofgiantsmusic.
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