On “Higher Angels,” Americana singer-songwriter Pete Value delivers a poignant, stripped-down ballad that seems like a late-night cellphone name you have been by no means alleged to make—however someway needed to. The newest single from his reflective 2024 album Footage in Time, “Higher Angels” captures a second suspended between reminiscence and risk, between what was and what may nonetheless be—if solely somebody picks up the road.
Recognized for his storytelling finesse and rootsy sincerity, Value faucets into one thing uncooked right here. “Higher Angels” isn’t about grand gestures or over-the-top manufacturing. It’s concerning the quiet braveness it takes to confront your previous with nothing however a trembling voice and an open coronary heart. He performs the a part of a person paralyzed by remorse, torn between reaching out and defending himself from the ache of being ignored. When he lastly musters the center to make the decision, he’s met with nothing however a voicemail—a punch of actuality that lands with extra emotional weight than any cinematic reconciliation ever might.
Value’s vocal supply is heat and ragged across the edges, the type of lived-in tone that recollects Don Henley’s wistfulness and Jackson Browne’s intimacy. The lyricism is unpretentious and slicing in its honesty: “Look inside your coronary heart / Within the place our love had began way back / Face the hazard.” This isn’t sentimentalism—it’s a grown-up’s lament, steeped within the hard-earned knowledge of somebody who’s made peace with imperfection.
Instrumentally, “Higher Angels” is delicate and sure-footed. A mild acoustic spine carries the track, with tasteful touches of piano, violin, and mandolin coloring within the emotional areas. Recorded with members of The Value Brothers Band at Triangle Street Studio, the observe avoids pointless prospers, permitting Value’s lyrics and voice to stay the centerpiece.
“Higher Angels” additionally marks a thematic turning level in Footage in Time, an album that Value describes as a chronological journey by way of the emotional terrain of a life lived with intent—and its share of missteps. If earlier tracks wrestle with self-doubt and missed probabilities, this one stands as a tentative act of redemption. It’s not a declaration of victory, however a quiet query: May we nonetheless get this proper?
There’s no reply within the track, and that’s exactly the purpose. Like the most effective work from artists within the Americana and singer-songwriter traditions—suppose Jason Isbell, Patty Griffin, and even late-era John Prine—Value understands that the actual energy lies within the unresolved. “Higher Angels” lingers not as a result of it tells us what occurs subsequent, however as a result of it’s courageous sufficient to ask.
Pete Value may not be a family identify, however with songs like this, he’s carving an area for himself among the many style’s most heartfelt voices. “Higher Angels” is a quietly devastating reminder that typically the bravest factor you are able to do is make the decision—even when it solely results in silence.
–Ray Finney
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