Valerie Forgione – aka Lovina Falls – creates a strange and sometimes dream-like world on her 2025 EP ‘Would That It Were’. Its five tracks create a great extension of the sounds shared on 2023’s ‘Calculating The Angle of Our Descent’, bending pop, synth, dream pop and melodic 90s influences into new shapes, on material that invites its audience to listen closely.
‘Light and Low’ opens the release and shows off the Lovina Falls talent very strongly indeed. The track is a very curious affair, musically speaking, and certainly one designed to create a striking first impression. The intro, powered by a loud drum and fuzzy bass, leads the listener into thinking that they’re about to be pummelled by a superb retro alternative rocker in the vein of Boston’s Happy Little Clouds. …And then, everything takes a massive dog-leg out into quirkier terrain. The rhythm quickens; the fuzzy bass hits upon a warbling groove, and a world of keys adds a really busy riff that owes more to baroque pop due to a prominent harpsichord sound. Then, a pop derived vocal adds further interest in a way that feels almost flippant, bouncing back and forth, turning a busy hook into a potential hit. It’s not the kind of arrangement you could ever approach passively; nothing is set to wash over the listener – especially once a few dancier beats kick in – but for those who are able to find an easy way in, it’s the kind of track that’ll provide long term enjoyment in a quick-change world.
‘In The Corner, A Fire’ is just as quirky, but not by any means just more of the same. The heavy bass sounds remain, but beyond that, this track takes on a life of its own, with 80s synths dropping in with almost robotic sounding bleeps and a very mechanical drum line reinforcing the track’s taut qualities, while a slightly hushed vocal on the verse contrasts the slightly inhuman tone. As before, though, Valerie balances any colder aspects with a pop drenched chorus that uses harmonies and soaring melodies on a great hook to give the performance more of a celebratory feel. …And it doesn’t take long before that chorus becomes an alt-pop earworm.
Taking a slightly mellower stance, ‘Ellory’s Way’ adopts deep bass tones and warbling keys to create a strong base, over which a deeper vocal weaves a melody that’s part indie pop and part goth on the verse, before exploding into a blend of melodic alt-rock and goth on a chorus that shares some great, dark tones. Building upon a great bass groove for the second verse, the tune sounds even more like an early 90s deep cut from the 4AD label. The melody that is finally set in place is a familiar one, but never tired, and the mix of militaristic rhythms and harmonic vocals filling the middle eight ensures that nothing ever feels too safe, even if this never quite reaches the inventive heights of the brilliant ‘Light and Low’.
Elsewhere, you’ll encounter ‘Tragedy’ which works a circular piano melody against a slightly filtered vocal to make Lovina Falls sound very different again, before exploring a soundscape where heavy drums pierce through a repetitious groove. By exploring a world of alt-pop on the verse, it makes the chugging guitar on the chorus sound, perhaps, heavier than it actually is, before a lead guitar derails everything with a world of distorted arcs of sound, threatening to make itself more memorable than the brilliant piano riff. The climax of the track shares a pinch of influence from late 80s Banshees, leaving the listener in a totally different mood compared with just two minutes previously. It shouldn’t work as well as it does, but the way Valerie builds the world of sound very gradually, it makes everything flow surprisingly well. ‘About The Sun’, meanwhile, stokes up the synths in places, but isn’t about to drop the listener into an electronic landscape. Instead, the keys are used to bring an otherworldly quality to a cinematic arrangement that blends 60s influenced twanging guitars with an almost desert rock vibe. It’s trippy, but never without focus; harmony vocals glide beautifully over one of Forgione’s slowest melodies and just in case the audience is in danger of being whisked away just a little too much, the track also works a busy chorus where heavier drums and multi-tracked vocals attack with an almost frenzied approach. This adds a huge slab of alt-pop to an already great track. If it weren’t for ‘Light and Low’, this would be the EP’s highlight.
By opening with the strongest track in the Lovina Falls canon, the rest of ‘Would That It Were’ ran the risk of coming up short. It’s to Forgione’s credit that the other songs, in time, are almost as appealing – if not always quite as striking – and her vocals always present themselves in a way that’ll continue to pull people into her vaguely hazy world of alt-pop with ease. This is a confident work that shows how various different influences from the past can be brought together to create something that feels fresh. For lovers of alternative pop and indie, these nineteen minutes offer a genuine treat.
December 2025