Valley
Is Indie Pop’s Favorite Four-Piece: Band Talks Last Birthday and Making Music Together
By Kenneth Tse
Valley / Photo Credit: Becca Hammel
Seven and a half years after their formation, Toronto’s Valley remains a go-to example of what it means to put out perfect pop music. The four-piece band reached a new milestone early last week after releasing their latest EP, Last Birthday. The project is their most unique and diverse to date, with its tracklisting being the culmination of songwriting past and present. It’s an unconventional approach for an unconventional group and one that has paid off well. I asked Valley about this and more via a press conference hosted by Universal Music Group’s internal creative solutions team, °1824.
“The whole timeline was a bit crazy on this one,” lead vocalist Rob Laska explained. “There were a lot of buzzer-beater moments and also times when we went back in time to decide: ‘Oh my god, we have to put out a song that’s seven and a half years old!’” This was a reference to “ain’t my girl,” a track that dates back to 2014, Valley’s first year together.
Photo Credit: Becca Hammel
“I remember having the most existential moment,” Laska continued. “We took a bunch of weed gummies and were having a time. We ended up going through our old Dropbox, playing our old songs, and when (“ain’t my girl”) came on, we were like: ‘How have we not put this out?’” The following day, the group recorded and finalized the track we know and hear today.
Lead Guitarist Michael Brandolino also shared a unique component to their musical process. “(Due to the pandemic), we did a lot of our music-making through Zoom,” he shared. “In doing so, we were able to write with people from all across the United States and the world. Because of that, our palette was a bit wider this around, which was great.”
‘Last Birthday’ Album Artwork / Click to Listen!
This pandemic "silver lining" may have been the jolt that the band needed, as Last Birthday now stands in a league of its own. The project has amassed nearly 30 million Spotify streams and features viral hits like “Like 1999,” which has become a mainstay on every cool kid’s indie-pop playlist. The album collectively exudes the feeling of an instant classic, filled with catchy hooks, timeless melodies, and one-of-a-kind lyrical ingenuity.
As the band heads toward their eighth anniversary, I had them reflect on what exactly makes their dynamic work so well. “There is no rulebook to the way that we operate and record music,” Laska said. “Many bands function with these subconscious roles that society gives you – we've never been that way, and I realize that this is a special thing.”