A summery sweet indie pop kiss, Valley’s buoyant and bubbly song “CHAMPAGNE” is one more reason to smile: A radiant eruption of passion and staying power, it’s an irresistibly uplifting and sun-soaked anthem of inner strength, triumph, and perseverance.
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Stream: “CHAMPAGNE” – Valley
“CHAMPAGNE” is a song about breaking through whatever walls you or someone in your life has put up in front of you and finding the silver lining. It’s turning dirt into flowers, rain into sun.
Leave it to a band like Valley to turn our pain and desolation into euphoric, sun-soaked beauty.
The Toronto four-piece has a history of uplifting our spirits, inspiring hope and happiness in songs that face life’s full spectrum head-on. It’s been a long two years; it’s been a long six-plus years. We deserve to smile; we deserve that space to enjoy the only lives we have, even if that happiness comes and goes in fleeting moments of song or sunshine. A summery sweet indie pop kiss, Valley’s new single “CHAMPAGNE” is one more reason to smile: A radiant eruption of passion and staying power, it’s a reminder that we are strong inside and out; that we can weather whatever storms come our way; and that we can soar triumphant in the face of insurmountable odds.
Another night alone
You wonder why I’m always getting stoned
‘Cause, baby, when I’m low, you never come around
You tell me that you care
So tell me why you’re always over there
And when I’m shining, you, you’re the thunder cloud
When I’m thriving you pull me under ground
You can break my heart, I’m not broken
I can build a house with the stones you’re throwing
I’m not a dreamer, it ain’t always greener
But I’ll turn this pain into champagne
Released April 28, 2022 via Universal Music Canada, “CHAMPAGNE” is a song of the summer waiting to happen. Following Valley’s three-track The After Party mini-EP released this January, this song represents the band’s official re-entry into the musical spotlight – and just in time. Consisting of Rob Laska, Michael “Mickey” Brandolino, Alex Dimauro, and Karah James, Valley are easy to fall in love with, and stay in love with. One of the most exciting, if not the most exciting, indie pop bands of the 2020s era, Valley have consistently won audiences over with their effervescent melodies, dynamic rock beats, and irresistibly catchy, cathartic songwriting. They make pop with a purpose, and they make it look all-too easy.
While they’re perhaps best known for “There’s Still a Light in the House,” a breakout single off their 2019 debut album MAYBE, Valley have proved their place in the pop music canon these past three years, dazzling our ears and our hearts time again – first with their 2020 EP sucks to see you doing better, and most recently with songs like “Oh shit…are we in love?” and “Like 1999,” the latter of which has become their most-streamed song since its release just over a year ago.
“A buoyant pop anthem full of emotion and fun, clever references, ‘Like 1999’ taps a sentimental vein as the JUNO nominated Toronto band capture longing and intimacy – turning the clock back and, for two and a half minutes, inviting us to soak up like in the ’90s,” we wrote in a feature last April.
Unfiltered honesty, an exceptional ear for unforgettable refrains, pure, unbridled talent, and some mix of charm and charisma help make every Valley song snap, crackle, and pop – and there’s quite a bit of pop! going on in the band’s latest offering. Valley’s vocalist and drummer Karah James steps “out from behind her kit” (their words) and into the spotlight for the very first time on a song that shines with refreshing fortitude, intimacy, and forte. She sings, her voice achingly expressive and equally impassioned:
My head is always sore
It ain’t even from the night before
Oh, baby, I’m so over getting hungover you
It’s out of my control, when all you are is hypocritical
When I’m your puppet, you fuckin’ love it
You can break my heart, I’m not broken
I can build a house with the stones you’re throwing
I’m not a dreamer, it ain’t always greener
But I’ll turn this pain into champagne
“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),” Karah James tells Atwood Magazine. “Now that we’re nearing the end of the pandemic [editor’s note: FINGERS CROSSED!], it’s crazy to reflect on a 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. ‘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.”
You can’t break something that won’t break.
“We wrote “CHAMPAGNE” the same week we wrote [our song] ‘Like 1999,'” Valley’s Rob Laska adds. “That week was a really special week. We were all really tapping into the magic we create around one another and just having a really productive set of days. I happened to be sick one day, so Karah ended up singing the demo, which we then later kept for the version you’re hearing now.”
“It’s the first time we’re both singing lead on a song together which felt like a new chapter opening up for our band. We came up with the phrase, ‘I’ll turn this pain in champagne‘ with our friends Jake and Johnny to describe how we were feeling at the time. This was peak pandemic and there was not a lot to hold onto in the world around us. “CHAMPAGNE” is a song about breaking through whatever walls you or someone in your life has put up in front of you and finding the silver lining. It’s turning dirt into flowers, rain into sun.”
James and Laska’s words are almost as inspiring as the song they’re talking about: A tune that, as bright as it is resilient, refuses to quit and refuses to let us quit in the process. “Another maze and I made it out, I take the pain and I pour it out,” the band sing at one point. “You know there’s nothing left to save me, but this champagne.”
I’m not a dreamer, it ain’t always greener, but I’ll turn this pain into champagne…
We hold on. We see it through. We persevere. “CHAMPAGNE” is the anthem 2022 needs; it’s the anthem we all need, not just to keep getting by, but to truly thrive and live life to the fullest, if only for three minutes’ time. Once again, Valley have exceeded all expectations with a song we’ll be blasting for years to come.
You can break my heart, I’m not broken
I can build a house with the stones you’re throwing
I’m not a dreamer, it ain’t always greener
But I’ll turn this pain into champagne
But I’ll turn this pain into champagne
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Stream: “CHAMPAGNE” – Valley
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