From our NYC correspondent DJ Jason Eldredge:
Chad Valley is the one-man alter ego of Oxford, UK’s Hugo Manuel. Similar to other recent solo acts of late like Georgia’s Washed Out, this autonomous outfit also utilizes retro-smooth influences and cassette-tape-hiss appeal with a driving force that’s just as much the older straight brother of Wham! as it is the whimsy of feel-good New Order.
Repetitive bass riffs lull one into steady grooves that remind you this is the sound of now just as much as it is of yester-beats. “Is it simply ever enough just to be a cool band that sounds good?” Chad Valley seems to ask and simultaneously answers with a resounding “yes.”
Listen to the stuttering “Portuguese Solid Summer” here
…but know that this is just the beginning… Be on the lookout for the rest of the self-titled debut EP on the Cascine label in late November which goes even deeper.
— Jason Eldredge