NOMINATED FOR 2022 GROUP OF THE YEAR JUNO AWARD & PERFORMING AT THE
OPENING NIGHT AWARDS
APRIL 28, 2022 (TORONTO, ON) , JUNO Award-Nominated alternative-pop band Valley share their optimistic new single “CHAMPAGNE” via Capitol Records / Universal Music Canada. This is a special release for Valley, celebrating the sole female vocalist and drummer Karah James who steps out from behind her kit and into the spotlight as lead vocals on “CHAMPAGNE,” a moment fans have been waiting for. Bandmate, Rob Laska illuminates, “Karah takes the lead on this one, singing from a powerful and refreshing female lens. In the writing process certain narratives, lyrics, sections, phrases jump out as us and almost assign themselves to either Karah or myself, most of the time it’s just about how honest we can keep the songs and a lot of that comes from the delivery of a vocals. We’re lucky to have multiple singers in the band so that we can keep it fresh.”
LISTEN HERE
“CHAMPAGNE” follows an invigorating drumbeat infused with the familiar sparkling synth hooks and a crisp guitar lick. The lyrics sing like a modern-day adage, inspiring a hopeful outlook. Karah explains the creation process and meaning, “We wrote ‘CHAMPAGNE’ during the pandemic over zoom with two writers we’ve always dreamed of writing with, Jake Torrey (BTS, Justin Bieber, Liam Payne) and Johnny Simpson (Maroon 5, MAX). Now that we’re nearing the end of the pandemic, it’s crazy to reflect on time that for many, was so dark and challenging. During the time of writing the song we were experiencing a lot of adversity with such a shift in our routine, our band, our social lives and with all of those changes our mental health suffered.” Karah continues, “‘CHAMPAGNE’ is simply a song about not letting the negativity of the world bring you down and turning the pain we feel into something positive. It’s about reframing our narratives on challenging situations and people and telling ourselves that sticks and stones may break our bones, but you can’t break something that won’t break.”
“CHAMPAGNE” is released with an accompanying lyric video made up of CCTV footage of the band hanging out in a Toronto convenience store. Rob describes “we can’t really remember where the idea came from but I think we wanted to just be super authentic with it. Like what would Valley do if we were just hanging out and feeling care-free? We would probably go get snacks and walk around the city. We are super lucky to each have 3 best friends that can have our backs and support one another when we’re going through challenging times and that’s exactly what we did during the pandemic when we felt lost and uncertain, we tried take our own advice and turn the pain into champagne.”
Valley are gearing up to celebrate their 2022 JUNO Award nomination for “Group Of The Year” at the 51st Annual JUNO Awards hosted at Budweiser Stage in Toronto on May 15. Valley will be performing at the JUNO Opening Night Awards Presented by Ontario Creates on May 14 at 6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT, streaming on CBC Gem and at cbcmusic.ca/junos. Later this year, Valley will jump on the festival circuit performing across North America including The Governors Ball Music Festival in New York and Life Is Beautiful Festival in Las Vegas.
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ABOUT VALLEY
Valley put together alternative pop with the care, adventurousness, and personal touch of a handmade burned CD. Cycling through moods like your favorite throwback Pinterest board, the Toronto quartet—Rob Laska, Michael “Mickey” Brandolino, Alex Dimauro, and Karah James—amplify sticky hooks through eloquent songcraft that’s cognizant of what came before, yet ready for the future. In 2016, Valley formed by accident when a local studio double booked them. During high school, Mickey and Karah played in one band, while Rob and Alex played in another. They introduced themselves with self-written, self-produced releases, including the EP This Room Is White (2016) and full-length debut MAYBE (2019). They joined Lennon Stella and The Band CAMINO on sold out tours across North America and even picked up a 2020 JUNO Award nomination in the category of “Breakthrough Group of the Year.” Following 2020’s sucks to see you doing better EP, the single “Like 1999” exploded. Its genesis traces back to a TikTok post of an unfinished version. After Valley completed the tune in under 48 hours, it went on to inspire hundreds of thousands of creates and is now certified GOLD The track broke through international boarders, appearing on viral charts in the U.S., Philippines, Korea, Japan and more. “Like 1999” was released on their 2021 record Last Birthday which garnered praise from the likes of EARMILK, Wonderland, American Songwriter, the band were also selected as Apple Music’s Up Next Artist leading into Last Birthday’s release. Last year, the band were able to connect with their immense fan-base in person performing at Wunderbus and Bottlerock then set out on their first-ever North American headlining tour which was mostly sold out across all dates. Most recently, Valley celebrate their second JUNO Award nomination with the 2022 nod for “Group Of The Year.”
VALLY TOUR DATES: JUNE 11 The Governors Ball Music Festival 2022 Flushing, NY
JULY 9 Field Trip Music and Arts Festival 2022 Toronto, ON
JULY 10 Wonderstruck (Cleveland) 2022 Kirtland, OH
SEPT 10 Moon River Afterparty Chattanooga, TN
Sept 16-18 Life Is Beautiful Festival 2022 Las Vegas, NV
