The band's playing is as taut as ever, their abrupt changes in key and tempo, and pattering and jittery polyrhythms, further intensifying Palm's aflutter poetry. In 'Chivalry Is Not Dead,' after likening herself to a series of amorous creatures, she goes into overdrive with 'Electrons in the air on fire, lightning kissing metal/Whisper to the tiny hairs, battery on my tongue.' Palm gets straight to the point elsewhere, like in the frictional percussion masterstroke 'Rose Water,' where 'All of my heart, it wants to hold you' shoots forth. Palm more often applies her nature and science references to loved-up fantasies. Although all this could have resulted in Hiatus Kaiyote's wildest and most triumphant material, Mood Valiant is intimate and romantic more than anything else. (She also had to re-learn guitar.) In a real way, the title is also symbolic of the whole band, who were subsequently hamstrung again by the COVID-19 pandemic. At the time, the band were in the middle of making what became Mood Valiant, but Palm was given an all-clear, enabling her to record the album's vocals, by the end of 2019. Mood Valiant also applies directly to Palm, who in 2018 was diagnosed with breast cancer - what her mother died from - and underwent life-saving surgery. It's a nod to frontperson Nai Palm's mother, who would tip-off her mood by driving either a white (positive) or black (negative) Valiant Safari wagon. The title of Hiatus Kaiyote's third LP has dual meaning.

Hiatus kaiyote songs