London’s very own Hugo Valentine has been hard at work this year dropping singles left, right and centre, much to the amazement and delight of his ever-growing fanbase. Following a string of releases this year including hits ‘All I Want‘, ‘My Friend‘ and most recently, ‘Rule the World‘, Hugo Valentine returns once again with his newest offering, ‘Change’, a bittersweet ode to seasons passed.

Known for his penchant for taking sore subjects like addiction, loss and loneliness and spinning them into a palatable and often positive tunes, ‘Changes’ is certainly of no exception. Filled with heartfelt and deeply moving lyricism, ‘Changes’ speaks about the struggles of becoming and adult and the brutal moments that make you realise that growing up is not all it seemed to be when you were a child.

Written several years ago, ‘Changes’ came to Valentine during a moment of sudden inspiration in the middle of the night which forced him to leave his bed and make his way over to the electric piano in the corner of the room to begin composing the basis of the song. The following morning, Valentine started fleshing out the lyrics which also came to him pretty much immediately, and with coherent meaning, which he admits is a rare occurrence.

By the end of that day, Hugo Valentine had unknowingly put together the bulk of what was to be his next hit single before later enlisting the help of producer Henrik R Fossum and vocalist Char Lubbock for the finishing touches. The final product of their collective labour is a beautifully written and thoughtfully composed, introspective single which will make a perfect addition to Hugo Valentine’s existing catalogue of emotive and impactful pop-rock anthems.

“Production of this song was very quick – all in all two weeks, beginning to end. This was done remotely as producer Henrik has been back in his home country of Norway during Covid. Demos of bass and drum parts were made, then tracked by Henrik. A couple of days later, I took the recordings and went to a studio to record the piano. That same evening, in a rare stroke of post recording energy, I went to my own studio and laid down all the vocals. Then came the strings – they really were the missing link. I had a couple of very late nights writing and arranging the string parts (see below) and these were sent off to be recorded. I really spent time ensuring the strings had a real voice in this song – I didn’t want them just to be a texture, I wanted to bring back a taste of my classical beginnings, and I feel I indulged in this somewhat. Following that, a lovely sprinkling of backing vocals from the beautiful Char Lubbock, some mix wizardry from Henrik, and we had a record.“

HUGO VALENTINE

 

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