The singer-songwriter is poised to have a breakout year with the upcoming Valley of Heart’s Delight
Margo Cilker is keeping an eye out for an easier patch of ground in “Lowland Trail,” the first offering from her new album Valley of Heart’s Delight. The follow-up to Cilker’s acclaimed 2021 album Pohorylle, the new project will be released Sept. 15.
“Lowland Trail” has a breezy feel with its acoustic strums and reverb-heavy electric guitar that seems like keeping hope alive in the face of trouble. “Got miles before me, miles behind/ looking for a lowland trail,” Cilker sings, acknowledging that there will always be difficulties up ahead. “Got hills to climb in my own sweet time.”
Valley of Heart’s Delight comes from the nickname for California’s Santa Clara Valley, where Cilker grew up — it’s more tech hub than agricultural center these days. The 11-track project was produced by Sera Cahoone and features musicians who’ve played with the Decemberists, Band of Horses, and Beirut, plus a cover of Ben Walden’s “Steelhead Trout.” As its title indicates, the album frequently deals with connections to family and nature.
“I wrote these songs surrounded by the wild landscapes of the Northwest, but I was leaning toward the place I’d come from,” Cilker said in a release. “I felt cut off from my family and the valley that held them. I spent hours thinking about my sense of belonging. I’d traveled through many places and then, when the travel stopped, I ruminated on where I had ended up.”
Cilker, who’s played shows with American Aquarium and Drive-By Truckers among others, will launch a headlining solo tour this fall. Dates begin Oct. 5 in Missoula, Montana, and tickets to all shows go on sale May 19.
Valley of Heart’s Delight track list:
- “Lowland Trail”
- “Keep It on a Burner”
- “I Remember Carolina”
- “Beggar for Your Love”
- “Mother Told Her Mother Told Me”
- “With the Middle”
- “Santa Rosa”
- “Crazy or Died”
- “Steelhead Trout”
- “Sound & Fury”
- “All Tied Together”