There are some places where words can’t tread. There is no vocabulary for beauty that leaves us tongue-tied and speechless. There isn’t a word for the places that pluck the breath out of our bodies. Kristian Dunn learned the deficits of language when trying to describe his travels to Nevada’s Valley of Fire State Park. The only way to chronicle the journey was through music, making way for El Ten Eleven's 13th album. Valley of Fire (out Feb 10, 2023) is the spiritual sequel to the duo’s 2022 release of New Year’s Eve, a frenzied, discotheque fever dream. Compare the album covers, both designed by Ron Fleming (YYES), and the two stand as foils of one another: The watery abstraction of New Year’s Eve counterbalances the fiery distortions of Valley of Fire. While the Valley of Fire has existed for thousands of years and its brilliance has never wavered, it has been struck by waves of change – incremental alterations that come with time. El Ten Eleven has evolved with a similar cadence; the trials of age and experience have ushered in something altogether new. Both the Valley of Fire and El Ten Eleven bear the results of many forces within and beyond human control, both symbolizing grit and fortitude. And that sort of endurance holds a beauty all its own.