Finnish Love Metal pioneer, Ville Valo (VV), has released “Echolocate Your Love”, the second single to be taken from his forthcoming debut solo album, Neon Noir.
With plans for Neon Noir to be released in 2023, the elegiac goth-optimism of “Echolocate Your Love” gives a fuller picture of the wrought elegance to come.
“It’s a sonic step-by-step guide on how to survive, and perhaps even enjoy, the realm of VV with its abundance of things that go bump in the night,” says Valo. “It’s a teary mascara marathon between Robert Smith and Ozzy, with a dash of hope.”
Watch the official music video HERE at 4pm UK time.
Further details around VV’s debut studio album, Neon Noir, will be released in due course.
In the meantime, VV’s headline tour – taking place next year across Europe, the UK and North America – has already sold-out across a number of cities. Get your tickets now to avoid disappointment.
Tickets available, HERE.
JAN – MAY 2023 ‘NEON NOIR TOUR’
EUROPE
13.01 – Tavastia, Helsinki (sold out)
14.01 – Tavastia, Helsinki (sold out)
15.01 – Tavastia, Helsinki (sold out)
14.01 – Stodola, Warsaw
15.02 – Studio, Krakow
16.02 – LMB, Prague (sold out)
17.02 – Huxley’s Berlin (sold out)
18.02 – Fabrik, Hamburg (sold out)
20.02 – Paradiso, Amsterdam
21.02 – Batschkapp, Frankfurt (sold out)
22.02 – Komplex, Zurich
24.02 – Razzmatazz, Barcelona
25.02 – La Riviera, Madrid
26.02 – Cineteatro Capitolio, Lisbon
27.02 – Hard Club, Porto
02.03 – Alcatraz, Milan
03.03 – Backstage Werk, Munich (sold out)
04.03 – Barba Negra, Budapest
05.03 – Arena, Vienna (sold out)
07.03 – Rockhal, Esch-Sur-Alzette
08.03 – LMH, Cologne (sold out)
09.03 – Le Trabendo, Paris
UNITED KINGDOM
10.03 – O2 Academy, Bristol
11.03 – Rock City, Nottingham
13.03 – Garage, Glasgow (sold out)
14.03 – O2 Ritz, Manchester
15.03 – O2 Forum Kentish Town, London
NORTH AMERICA
31.03 – Theatre of the Living Arts, Philadelphia
01.04 – Theatre of the Living Arts, Philadelphia (sold out)
02.04 – Big Night Live, Boston
04.04 – Roxian Theater, Pittsburgh
05.04 – House of Blues, Cleveland
06.04 – St. Andrew’s Hall, Detroit
08.04 – Bogart’s, Cincinnati
09.04 – House of Blues, Chicago (sold out)
10.04 – House of Blues, Chicago
11.04 – Varsity Theater, Minneapolis
13.04 – The Summit Music Hall, Denver
14.04 – The Depot, Salt Lake City
16.04 – Ace of Spaces, Sacramento
17.04 – The Fillmore, San Francisco
18.04 – The Belasco, Los Angeles (sold out)
19.04 – The Belasco, Los Angeles
21.04 – House of Blues, Las Vegas
22.04 – House of Blues, San Diego
23.04 – The Van Buren, Phoenix
25.04 – House of Blues, Dallas
26.04 – Aztec Theatre, San Antonio
27.04 – House of Blues, Houston
28.04 – House of Blues, New Orleans
30.04 – House of Blues, Orlando
01.05 – Revolution Live, Ft. Lauderdale
03.05 – Buckhead Theatre, Atlanta
04.05 – Brooklyn Bowl, Nashville
05.05 – The Underground, Charlotte
07.05 – The Fillmore, Silver Spring
08.05 – Irving Plaza, New York
09.05 – Irving Plaza, New York
In the annals of 21st century alternative rock history there are few artists who cast a longer or more peculiar shadow than Finnish Love Metal pioneer Ville Valo. After all, his band HIM were easily among the most iconic and idiosyncratic groups of the millenium.
Zealously revered, gleefully reviled but impossible to ignore, their music left an indelible mark on a worldwide legion of fans. The scarlet letters stood for His Infernal Majesty. Their founder stood for something delightedly out of step with the status quo.
“We only hoped to temporarily redirect hard rock’s blood flow from the nether regions towards the heart”, reminisces Ville Valo, the singer, songwriter and primus motor of HIM. Judging by the monolithic presence of the Heartagram in any account of music this side of the millennium it’s apparent that he succeeded.
Inspired by everyone from Poe to Bukowski and tinged by a penchant for perfumed Sabbathian gloom, Valo’s creative lovechild would produce eight era-defining studio releases and over ten million record sales, not forgetting a Grammy nomination, countless magazine covers, critical acclaim, and the veneration of a generation.
Thus it came as no surprise that the news of a farewell tour in 2017 was greeted with shock and disbelief among devotees and endless speculation as to what or who was to take up the velvet mantle.
“As fun as the funeral rites for HIM were, it took me more than a few moons to lick my wounds in the shadow of the Heartagram and come up with an excuse to strum and hum again. Eventually I decided put a leash on my beloved black dog and we started howling together instead of barking at each other. That’s how Loveletting was born”.
“Loveletting”, the first single off VV‘s debut album Neon Noir out in early 2023, suggests this new infernal mix of light and shade is nothing short of a landmark release from one of modern music’s most distinctive and intriguing voices. It belongs to the same forlorn world of woe and whimsy once conceived and governed by Valo in HIM, but with the nuanced notes of a fine aged Cabernet.
“Artistically speaking the main difference between HIM and VV is the extra line in the Heartagram, but what an exquisite line it is! It’s the Mamas and the Papas dressed up as Metallica on their way to a Halloween bash at the Studio 54, and now who wouldn’t want to witness that?”
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