Today is the winter solstice, 12/21, and in true Northwest fashion, Harris has decided to honor the holiday by showering fans with new music. At least, that’s the hope.Grouper is the gloomy dream pop project of Liz Harris, a Portland-based musician who has fascinated listeners by playing with sampling, echoes, submersion and a decided grasp on cloudy hooks that smear themselves into your brain. It was a rather long stretch from last we heard from Harris (2015’s The Original Faces with her band, Helen), but Paradise Valley, is the cat ready to strike once more.

After the pain comes a certain clarity after a satisfying realignment of bones comes a moment of spryness. “Headache” is the long, choreographed stretch of a feline cracking its pained joints “I’m Clean Now” is the speedy atten-TION of a cat back on her feet and ready to pounce. “I’m Clean Now” flips it upside down, and though it retains the same foggy production and inherent Grouper “aesthetic,” it quickly unfurls itself as opposed to its A-side mate. It’s also a slightly brighter take on a migraine, settling into the constant, throbbing pain but finding it a calming, if unwelcoming, center. Digital is awesome y’all, but ones and zeroes don’t add up to t-shirts! “Headache” is achingly beautiful, returning to the slippery isolation of Dragging a Dead Deer…. It just so happens I got in under the buzzer and nabbed a piece of the tried-and-true physical tradition. I’m sure some believe I’m talking about the secondary mark-up on her limited runs, but what I truly mean is every piece of Harris’ art is worth the instant purchase in any etherical form it may possess at this moment.

It seems every little Grouper release is an instant collector’s classic, and this is no different. So, it was a little (but still) surprise that Paradise Valley came a few measly hours later in a small physical edition. Liz Harris’ email chain slid a sneaky missive under the 2016 radar, hinting that something old and possibly new would be cropping up on her recently launched Bandcamp page.

Grouper bandcamp