Valeras share new single “The Other Side”
"Behold VALERAS' infectious arsenal of high-octane rock tunes that glisten with pop magic"
- Gigwise
"Watch this lot because they're going all the way"
- Spindle Magazine
"Reading duo VALERAS are back with a thump. ‘Rita’ is a powerpop-charged ode to female empowerment." - RIOT Mag
Reading duo VALERAS have been busy during the pandemic writing, recording and working towards their debut album. Following the release of their hook-heavy single “Rita” in May, the band return today with the announcement of their fervent new single “The Other Side”. The single is taken from their highly anticipated new EP, which will be out later this year via The Liquid Label.
Written last summer, shortly after their previous single “Rita”, the new song sees the band merging their frenetic indie-rock sensibilities with more melodic and encapsulating, alt-pop inflected songwriting, which has seen them earn early plaudits across press and radio, including plays across BBC Introducing, Radio 1, and 6 Music, including support from Steve Lamacq. This is also the first track to see the band using a lead synth line, which they combine with tracks upbeat and driving guitars and drums to showcase an entirely new and captivating side to the band, as they build towards their new EP later this year.
Speaking about the themes and lyrics behind the new single, drummer and co-songwriter Max Sealy, says: “The Other Side speaks about letting go of a relationship that does more bad than good & finding the strength to do so. It’s a story about coming to the realisation that the toxicity is stopping you from your full potential and from flourishing into something better.”
WATCH THE VIDEO FOR “THE OTHER SIDE” HERE:
This new material marks an expansion of the duo’s dynamics, which represents another musical leap forward for the band, adding new textures and further honing a sound that has been theirs since their inception. In the process of embracing this evolution, the band enlisted the help of award-winning songwriter and producer, Tarek Musa (of Spring King / Dead Nature) as well as bringing in Claudius Mittendorf (Weezer, Parquet Courts, LIFE) for mixing duties.
A string of early singles has already seen VALERAS rack up millions of streams as well as earning acclaim across a vast array of publications and early radio support from the likes of Jack Saunders at Radio 1, a long-time supporter of the band who also invited them to play the inaugural Next Wave Festival recorded at Maida Vale for his Radio 1 show.
Ahead of the pandemic, the duo also toured with the likes of Yonaka, King Nun, Drenge, Greta Van Fleet and The Wombats, as well as selling out their own headline tour across the UK, and appearing at festivals such as Reading & Leeds, All Points East, The Great Escape, Sziget (Budapest), Nova Rock (Vienna), Lolla Sweden (Stockholm), Mad Cool (Madrid) and more.
Cementing their sound whilst out on the road has led VALERAS to put forward their most ambitious and personal work to date. Rose knows only too well the anxiety and stress on her audience to fit the norm and is a proud member of the LGBTQ+ community. Her lyrics reflect her feelings of loneliness, abandonment, and consequently her desire to empower the downtrodden. These are drawn from her families struggle to become accepted in a new country after fleeing her home in Venezuela to settle in the UK when she was aged 10 years old.
VALERAS continue to go from strength-to-strength with each release, the band’s new material is simultaneously more cutting, energetic and melodically encapsulating than anything else they have released to-date.
With a vast range of critical acclaim and an array of renowned live shows behind them, their new material stands as a huge and refreshingly original statement of intent, which is not to be ignored.
“The Other Side” is out now – Stream HERE
More info on VALERAS new EP TBA
