Valley Enters Their 'Shrek 2 Era' with Serendipitous Songwriting
The Canadian indie-pop band Valley is moving on to bigger and groovier things as they set out to tour their latest record with tighter, more infectious, and poignant pop tunes.
Serendipity was always at the center of the Valley’s music after its members, who were part of different bands at the time, accidentally stumbled upon each other after double-booking a recording studio in 2014.
The Juno Award-nominated group is on tour on the heels of dropping their latest LP, Water the Flowers, Pray for a Garden.
"Yeah, even the new stuff we're working on all kind of sounds like it's the same band, which is really nice,” Rob Laska, the band’s lead vocalist, told Esquire Philippines in an interview. “There's a lot of consistency with it, because I think we just have more confidence in who we are and the music we make.”
The band is still sonically exploring different avenues for future projects, but with a vision consistent with what excites them.
"Us meeting by accident and being double-booked in a studio was definitely the first sign from the universe, like, 'Oh okay, this is a path we should walk down,'" Laska reflected.
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Karah James, who plays drums and who also does vocals for Valley, likened the band’s recent records and albums to a rare movie sequel that is better than the original.
“We are in our Shrek 2 era, we’re going bigger and better,” the band said in unison, citing the 2004 animated smash-hit sequel to Shrek.
The Toronto indie-pop outfit has put out four studio albums and four EPs that stem from alternative rock, electropop influences.
Water the Flowers, Pray for a Garden was nominated for a Juno Award for Alternative Album of the Year. The Juno Awards are given to music artists and bands from Canada for technical excellence.
“Like 1999” was among the band’s breakout hits in 2021 that encapsulates the group’s appeal of uplifting pop tunes with poignant and relatable lyricism weaved into them.
The single, which is on their Last Birthday album, was born out the band’s yearning to go back to a simpler time before technology took over the world and everyone had their noses stuck to their cellphones.
“I feel like that album was the most concise we have ever been as a band in terms of decisions and creativity,” Laska noted. “It was not formulaic, but we were really obsessed with the idea of a song, or what a pop song is and how we can sharpen and write lyrics.”
He described writing their earlier songs from that period of time as them trying to capture feelings, even if it did not really come out as stylistically or sonically consistent as they could have been.
The Valley frontman also said songwriting sometimes happens serendipitously, while other songs may require a little more work and could be discouraging at times.
“There’s a magic to songs just arriving when you set yourself up in a way where you can let them come,” he said. “We go through seasons where songs are appearing, and we go through seasons where we're like, 'Oh, we're never gonna write a good song again.'"
“Bop Ba,” a fan favorite track from their latest LP Water the Flowers, Pray for a Garden ended up being one of the tracks that just “arrived” like lightning in a bottle.
The song navigates the themes of codependency in a relationship and tiptoes around the necessity of letting it go, no matter how difficult that may be.
“That song is one of those that just kind of arrived. We just started strumming the guitar and singing the chorus, mumbling melodies, and all of a sudden, the lyrics started happening,” according to Laska.
"And then you have time to sit with it and realize, 'Oh, it’s about this, duh,' which kind of means your subconscious is writing for you."
Laska stressed that the only way songwriters can really root for themselves is by showing up every day to work on their craft and having the craving to create something meaningful.
Valley has also tackled mental health and anxiety in their music like in their track “Lost in Translation,” a cut from their 2023 album of the same name.
One of the lines in the song goes, “I bought a book on anxiety; it’s much cheaper than therapy,” which bassist Alex Dimauro said illustrates the need to turn over every stone and go through all the motions to cope with vulnerability.
“I think Water the Flowers, Pray for a Garden is a direct result of sometimes the self-help books don’t work, you know?” Dimauro said.
“But you need to go through those steps in that process, because the answer isn’t always going to be in a book.”
What to Expect at Valley’s Manila Show in June
Valley is set to play a show at the New Frontier Theater in Quezon City as part of their Asia tour. They last performed in Manila in 2023 at the Ayala Malls Manila Bay Activity Center when they toured their Lost In Translation album.
“Well, we're excited to come back. You know, our last show there was nuts. We
played at Ayala Malls and it was nuts,” Laska said. “The fans in the Philippines are always just next level. The energy, and just the happiness they bring into the room, you know, make it definitely the loudest show of the last tour.”
Based on ticket prices published by Live Nation, Balcony ticket prices at the New Frontier Theater for Valley’s show range from P1,250 to P2,000; Loge prices are P2,850; Floor B Standing will cost P3,350; Floor A Standing is priced at P3,850; and VIP tickets are P10,350.
When asked if Valley was keen on collaborating with other Filipino musicians and acts, such as beabadoobee—who also has a show lined up in Manila in August—bassist Alex Dimauro said it would be an “amazing” tie-up.
“You guys (Filipinos) never disappoint. I just know it’s gonna be a very, very loud show. I’m excited” Laska said.
