Since signing to Modern Sky (Lottery Winners, Slow Readers Club, Jamie Webster) and unveiling his live band, Jack Valero has hit the ground running. His recent singles ‘Temporary Helplessness’ and ‘Pull Back The Hammer’ have powered up with a bigger, energising live sound without losing any of the astute, poetic lyricism of his initial releases – and that shines through on stage too, as shown by recent Glastonbury sets at the Greenpeace Stage and the Avalon Cafe.
Continuing that run of stellar form, Jack today shares the new single ‘Catch My Soul’ as he heads towards the release of his debut EP later this summer.
‘Catch My Soul’ adds another layer to Jack’s increasingly eclectic mix of genres, this time going in hard and heavy with a ragged blues and rush of timeless rock ‘n’ roll at full throttle giving its retro style an intensity to connect with a new generation. The song’s urgency is matched by his voice, with Jack holding nothing back whether launching himself at soaring high notes, racing along with the track’s rhythmic strut, or letting loose with unrestrained abandon.
Jack says, “This song is about a more reckless time of my life when I was going out too much and doing too much. The idea of Catch My Soul is delving into the desperate point when I felt like it was taking over and I needed someone to ‘catch my soul’ and save me before it was too late.”
The accompanying ‘Catch My Soul’ video reflects Jack’s love of cinematic juxtaposition with sweet and sour imagery versus the darker lyrical content. The video imagines Jack and bandmates Maxine Cahill (bass), Theo Williams-Burchell (drums) and Amie Shouler (backing vocals) as the unlikeliest of criminal gangs. Armed to the teeth with foam guns, the foursome plot a heist at a toy shop in Brighton in a visual that plays out in a ‘Bugsy Malone’ parody with a touch of ‘Peaky Blinders’ swagger.
Jack’s band, completed by guitarist Erik Litstrom, are back on the road throughout the rest of the year. First up are festival sets in two scenic but very different locations: a Summer By The River set at The Scoop by London City Hall on the Southbank of the Thames, followed by Tim Burgess’s ‘Twin Peaks’-style Tim Peaks Diner at Kendal Calling. Their upcoming shows are below. Expect more dates to be added soon.
JULY
27th – London, Southbank, Summer By The River
28th – Kendal Calling, Tim Peaks Diner
AUGUST
5th – Barking Folk Festival
5th – Milton Keynes, Multitude Festival
SEPTEMBER
2nd – Dorchester, Cerne Abbas
OCTOBER
21st – Somerset, Pilton Club
NOVEMBER
4th – Reading, 19 Something Festival
DECEMBER
8th – Sunderland, Fire Station (supporting Tom A. Smith)
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