Monument Valley - Tongues

Monument Valley is the moniker of Londoner Ned Younger, and ‘Tongue’ is his debut release. The EP is notable as, rather than a mere collection of disparate tracks, it is a selection of songs inspired by images and photographs that were collected by Younger from car boot sales and markets, and the sepia toned images of those old photographs certainly feed their way into the sound of the EP.

Monument Valley’s sound is a delicate mix of melodic guitar, subtle drums and percussion, and Younger’s own smoothly lilting voice. There is a charming wistfulness that comes across very well on these frequently lovely tracks. ‘Round & Round’ is the perhaps the most strident track here and it is a very nice piece of swooning melodic pop. ‘Decade Of Diva’s’ carries on in much the same vein, it is all very laid back and languid stuff but there is more than enough impressive song craft at work here to hold your attention.

The second half of the EP is the section most explicitly based on the aforementioned photographs. ‘Valentines Park Part 2’ is a wonderfully evocative piece of melancholia and Younger’s use of bleak imagery is particularly impressive. ‘Dear John’s Letter’s’ rounds off the EP with a beautifully tender acoustic tale of the lives of two women in 1947, as based on a photograph of the two leaning against a shed in Morecambe. The inclusion of the original photographs in the form of an accompanying book is a very nice touch.

It is all very impressive stuff and Monument Valley’s gift as a burgeoning storyteller is evident throughout this accomplished debut.