MUSIC NEWS: New Heavy Sounds Announce 10 Year Anniversary & Sky Valley Mistress Acoustic EP
Photo Credit: Tom Bronowski
2021 marks the 10 year anniversary for independent label New Heavy Sounds who, over the last decade, have signed the likes of XM3a, Black Moth, Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard, Vodun, Mountain Caller and Sky Valley Mistress.
“It was pretty exciting and became more so when we started signing our own acts, starting with XM3a and of course Black Moth, eventually to Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard, Vodun, Mountain Caller and more,” label owners Ged and Paul reminisce. “Our ethos back then was the same as it is now. Whether it be stoner rock, doom, sludge, heavy psych, punk, hardcore, or good old rock. If the riffs and attitude, coupled with that little bit of something extra that makes it stand out from the crowd are there … then that’s for us. It hasn’t all been plain sailing, but we’ve made it this far and we aim to continue our quest to showcase the best and most interesting voices from the heavy underground for many more years to come.’
To celebrate, the label will be releasing a series of 10th anniversary CD EP’s, in very, very limited editions, containing new or exclusive tracks from their roster and beyond. The first of these editions comes from stoner blues rockers Sky Valley Mistress.
“We signed these guys in late 2019 after we’d been keeping an eye on them for a while to say the least, and they improved with every one of their self-released singles. Then it really clicked when they released a couple of tracks that they’d recorded at the famous ‘Rancho De La Luna’ studio in California with Dave Catching (QOTSA, Mojave Lords). We were knocked out.
It turned out there was a whole album of exceptional quality rockers in the can. Those songs were meant to form their debut album Faithless Rituals
That album was chock full of great songs, peerless musicianship and to top it all off there was the blues wailing, fiery yet soulful vocals of Kayley Davies. It was a sound that belied their youthful appearance. We knew we had to release it.
On top of all this when we saw them live, they were truly a ferocious, exciting on-stage experience. Which made it all the more galling for us (and the band) that the week of the album’s release the world went crazy and we all went into lockdown. It obviously hit the music scene hard and SVM were no exception.
They had a UK tour cancelled including a cool ‘launch’ show supporting Thee Hypnotics. For us it was a crying shame that the wider public never got to see the band perform the album in full force, in an environment in which they really excel.
Luckily, before lockdown hit, we asked the guys to record an acoustic set for us, and these are the tracks we are releasing as the first of our 10th anniversary EP series.”
Sky Valley Mistress‘ EP will feature stripped-down versions of songs from their debut album, You Got Nothing, Skull and Pistons, It Won’t Stop and She Is So, and will be released via New Heavy Sounds on 26th March 2021.
The CD will be housed in a bespoke New Heavy Sounds die cut 10th anniversary digipack and be limited to just 150 copies. Pre-order your copy via Bandcamp HERE or Cargo Records HERE.
