Manchester Orchestra The Valley Of Vision

Just last fall, Manchester Orchestra released a one-off track, “No Rule,” following up their 2021 album The Million Masks Of God. Today, Manchester Orchestra are announcing a project called The Valley Of Vision, which doubles as an album and virtual reality film. Both will be out in March. Accompanying the news is a lead single, “Capital Karma.”

Directed by Isaac Deitz, the virtual reality film will debut in a “worldwide watch party” on the band’s YouTube channel come March 9. Meanwhile, the album is co-produced by Andy Hull and guitarist Robert McDowell. The Valley Of Vision also features contributions from Catherine Marks, Dan Hannon, Jamie Martens, Kyle Metcalfe, and Ethan Gruska, who also plays piano on “Capital Karma.”

“Making The Valley Of Vision was an exciting idea of what the future could be for us in terms of how we create,” Hull says. “None of these songs were written with the band being in the same room in a live setting. They were really like science experiments that started from the bottom and were added to gradually over time. We’re intrigued by doing things the wrong way, or attempting things we haven’t done before and getting inspired by them.”

Deitz adds of the accompanying film:

Andy and I had talked about doing a film and album collaboration since 2021, after I directed the video for their song ‘Telepath.’ A year later he sent me The Valley of Vision, and I realized we had the potential to really do something special. Experiencing the film in its intended 180-degree, 3D VR format feels like downloading a dream into your head, and listening to the album feels like receiving an abstract map of different lessons regarding the human experience – forgiving yourself, listening to yourself, letting go, and saying goodbye to the old. Trees seemed to me the perfect symbol to convey a lot of those themes of life, death, rebirth and growth, but I wanted the 3DVR film to be a way for people to listen to the music in a variety of compelling environments, while also having those stories woven in for anyone paying attention. Each symbol represents a different experience nested in our internal worlds; it’s up to you whether you want to just enjoy them, or try to interpret what the dream means.

01 “Capital Karma”
02 “The Way”
03 “Quietly”
04 “Letting Go”
05 “Lose You Again”
06 “Rear View”