In Peter Weir’s 1975 film Picnic at Hanging Rock, a group of boarding school girls in Victorian-era Australia don white lace, twirl parasols, and craft elaborate valentines before some of them vanish behind a boulder on a searing summer day, never to be seen again. Charlie Hilton, best known as the vocalist for the woozy Portland-grown outfit Blouse, channels that same eerie, sun-drenched mystique on her second full-length LP, River of Valentines. The album reveals its emotional stakes in subtle gestures rather than full confessions.
From the first notes on River of Valentines, Hilton’s sound is smooth. The album flows like a river, its sonic valentines aloof yet twinkling. Hilton’s lo-fi ennui sometimes lulls but more often dances across a deep well of feeling, all within a concise 28 minutes that feels like Sauvie Island at golden hour. Picture it: The sun glancing off the Columbia, osprey circling overhead, and Hilton’s voice trickling in on the breeze, never overstaying its welcome or overexpressing its power.
“I am trying to sit out / But they said I’m not allowed / Said I’m gonna have to play,” she croons on the opening track, “Exorcise.” If Hilton is going to dive in emotionally, it might be a bit against her will. While her previous work with Blouse typified early 2010s chillwave, her solo output is gentler, lullaby-esque. It’s not the sticky fruit juice dripping down your arm during your Sauvie trip; it’s the cool water you use to wash it away.
Following “Exorcise” is “Fiery Sunset of Kings” with its spare glow, while “Machinery” picks up the pace with an uptempo list of her desires: “I wanna hear the faces / The things they have to say / I even wanna hear my own voice / To just get it on the tape / I wanna listen / ‘Cause there’s something I don’t know.” The impact is earnest, yet doesn’t take itself too seriously. Yes, Hilton desires these things—they will come in time.
The mid-record “Illusion of a Door” feels like a pause to question surroundings, a slow-paced reflection continuing the thread of Hilton’s airy vocals against a backdrop of hazy strumming. While the track sounds like sun glitter, it also makes one wonder: Does her river ever change course? Just as River of Valentines begins to ebb, a surprise arrives on “A Real Love Song.” The baroque metallic plink of harpsichord lends a fresh contrast and chamber-pop sensibilities to the album’s otherwise beachy wash.
Overall, Hilton leans into simplicity on River of Valentines, with muted chords and soft vocals that sometimes slide into whispers. The result is diaristic, Super 8-style dream-pop—vulnerable yet lighthearted. It’s a love letter (or a valentine, yeah?) to Hilton’s eclectic influences. Her voice evokes Nico’s haunting disinterest and the lilt of Broadcast’s Trish Keenan.
There are hints of everything from ‘60s psych-pop to the gauzy sheen of the 2010s on the album, with notes of Antena’s Camino Del Sol, Mazzy Star, Julee Cruise, and Nancy Sinatra in between. It tracks that River of Valentines was produced by Chris Cohen, a former Deerhoof member and occasional drummer, guitarist, and backing vocalist for a range of indie acts like Weyes Blood and Cass McCombs.
The album is inherently listenable, its short runtime feeling like one long exhale (just enough time to get through a sink full of dishes with your headphones on).
While River of Valentines drifts to a close, it delivers the album’s standout track—on “If I Could Only Get Higher,” a heartwrenching chord progression swells beneath Hilton’s vocals, reaching a fever pitch of whispered longing: “If I could only get higher / If I could only be a star / I’d deliver a wish to put back apart / All the missing highways that bleed out from where we are / Something’s wrong with the way we’ve been,” Hilton breathes, as if she knows the listener is finally drifting off.
River of Valentines is a lullaby dedicated to longing itself, invoking the image of those girls at Hanging Rock, nearly within reach before dissolving into the heat.
Charlie Hilton’s River of Valentines was released June 20 on Rhododendron Records and is available to check out here.
