The last time we saw Latin alternative pop singer/songwriter VALÉ in the City of Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affection was October of last year when she opened a sold-out Theatre of Living Arts for alt-pop sibling duo (and America’s Got Talent quarterfinalists) BETWEEN FRIENDS. And the time before that was last June when the Colombian artist opened The Metropolitan Opera House for The Driver Era. “It was super cool, honestly. My touring experience prior to that was with a six-piece band, a lot of people, so it was really cool to have a lower-scale and tighter unit and team,” VALÉ tells me of the BETWEEN FRIENDS tour during a recent phone chat (We first met while she was in the middle of that tour, and she told me about some of the highlights of her relatively new professional music career, in addition to some of her favorite Halloweeny things.)
Well, this week VALÉ is kicking off about a week and a half of US dates supporting Texas-based indie rocker, and fellow Colombian, Luna Luna (the solo project of Kavvi), for whom she opened The Regent Theater in October of 2023, which was her biggest show to date at the time. And the upcoming run will include VALÉ’s most intimate stop yet in the 215, by a landslide… On April 24th, she and Luna Luna will find themselves at the 140-capacity Kung Fu Necktie, whose vibe I often describe as resembling a brothel in a Rob Zombie movie (In the best possible way!)
VALÉ says she loves this level of intimacy: “I’m really excited, honestly. I’ve played rooms like this in the past. These really intimate rooms are taking me back to playing Breaking Sound and Sofar Sounds shows. The really small, intimate shows are super special; I’m really into it.” And she says that the live show will feature an even tighter unit than the BETWEEN FRIENDS jaunt: “On this upcoming tour, it’s going to be just a drummer and me, so it should be super tight. This will be the smallest setup I’ve ever done… I feel like, with this setup, we are able to perform the songs in a way that fits that grittier setting. And my drummer has played all those venues because he’s from a rock band background.”
This February VALÉ dropped “rapido,” her latest single, which was co-written and produced by Alex Bilo (known for his work with BTS, Bebe Rexha, and Gavin DeGraw), with whom she tells me she immediately connected: “We just clicked instantly. Alex is such an insanely talented producer.” And when we last spoke, VALÉ told me that she was hoping 2026 would maybe see a sophomore EP, the follow-up to 2024’s under the sun, along with a headlining tour. When I ask if those things are still in the works, she confirms that they are absolutely on the way.
“That EP is officially done, so expect to see some stuff about that super soon. Right now, it’s all about getting my next project up and running with all the content that goes along with it… I am planning on doing a headlining tour, that’s in the works. Everything that could ever possibly be happening is happening in the second half of the year… I’m hoping to play some festivals, because I’ve never played a festival. There’s a new single coming in May, ‘Mugshot,’ the first one from the EP, which I was playing on the BETWEEN FRIENDS tour.”
According to VALÉ, the upcoming EP will represent a sort of new chapter in her journey of as a songwriter. “They can definitely expect a more mature version of the classic VALÉ sound, whatever that means to them,” she says, going on to explain, “When I started writing, I was like 18 and I didn’t have a lot of life experience in my back pocket, but these past two years I was able to live more than I’ve ever lived before, so on this one I’m speaking about more personal experience and breaking away from the purely fun vibes songs. I got to be really candid this time around.”
When I ask what she’s been listening to a lot of lately, VALÉ admits that there are some obvious things (“Who would I be if I didn’t mention the new Harry Styles? And I’ve been listening to a lot of FKA Twigs recently. I really love how she produces all the vocal effects.”), but says she’s also really been feeling some phriends of PHILTHY that I wouldn’t necessarily expect: “I love Night Tapes. I was literally overlapping with them on the last tour, so I always missed them because they would be in the same city the night before or the night after me. Night Tapes is like sick ambient pop.” She also mentions a band that she just might get a chance to see during her next trip to Philthy: “I love Fcukers. I went to see Tame Impala and Fcukers were opening for them, but I missed them because traffic to The Forum was so bad.” Well, Fcukers are headlining Making Time at Franklin Music Hall on April 24th, so if you think you can help get VALÉ into Making Time to finally see Fcukers, let us know!
*Get your tickets here.
