Album Notes

The Art of Walking is a solo project created by musician and songwriter
Brian Malvey. The product of years of musical training and experimentation
combined with an obsession with music theory and recording technology, The
Art of Walking is as much an example of straightforward songwriting and
musicianship as it is an exercise in perfecting the at-home recording techniques that have become a staple of this generations most promising up-and-coming-artists.

Though The Art of Walking self-identifies as primarily a hybrid of folkand
indie-rock projects in the vein of such bands as The Elected and Death Cab
for Cutie, Malvey also cites more diverse influences - from Sufjan Stevens and
Bowerbirds to The Hush Sound and The New Pornographers - as having
contributed to the evolution of his eclectic songwriting style. This style is
aptly displayed on the The Art of Walking’s debut, self-titled album, which
features breathy, sticky-sweet vocals in the boy-girl duet “Without a Word,”
biting lyrics combined with an irresistible pop melody in “End It Here,” and
infectious, electronic beats in such songs as “Happy Now” and “Max Weber.”
These tracks and the album’s eight others utilize an array of instruments,
breaking from the keyboards and guitar that serve as The Art of Walking’s
backbone and incorporating banjo and even accordion into songs that provide a unique something extra.