It’s been a while since we wrote about Californian artist Valley Taylor. In fact, it’s been since January 2025, when celebrating the release of ‘Sunlight Filtered Through The Tree In My Window’. The record served as our reckoning with the project’s hazy, feverish sonic character, boasting an aural vision that’s equally heartwarming and psychedelic. Such qualities are now confirmed in ‘Doppelgänger’, Taylor’s new long-length record. In it, we are faced with nine compelling episodes of precious dreaminess, a slice of indie-coded lo-fi allure and luscious vocals.
Recorded with collaborators Devin Zamora on keys and Geoff Nelson on guitar, ‘Doppelgänger’ was apparently inspired by the Minecraft soundtrack, among other influences such as Orchid Mantis and Bon Iver. Valley Taylor is adamant about the sort of quaint nostalgia that the famous videogame’s music seemed to evoke. He tries to capture the same feeling in the album, a laidback, cinematic allure that’s neither sad nor happy… more like a meaningful fever dream, a jump into memories and personal circumstances wrapped in hypnotic arrangements.
Delving deeper into the introspective and meaningful lyrical ethos that propels the song, Taylor explains: “The story behind Doppelgänger is really rooted in identity, reflection, and the strange experience of feeling split between different versions of yourself. A lot of the record came out of a period where I was thinking deeply about who I had been, who I was becoming, and the ways those versions of myself sometimes felt at odds with each other.” Isn’t that just the pains of adulthood? As Valley Taylor searches for meaning, the album becomes a relatable and cathartic body of work.
Recommended! Discover ‘Doppelgänger’ now: