Valery Gore
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Valery Gore

Toronto, Ontario, Canada | Established. Jan 01, 2003 | SELF | AFM

Toronto, Ontario, Canada | SELF | AFM
Established on Jan, 2003
Band Alternative Pop

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This band has not uploaded any videos
This band has not uploaded any videos

Music

Press


"Exclaim! Interview - Sept 10, 2014"

"It's been a long road charting a course of creative metamorphosis from conception to completion of eclectic Toronto songwriter Valery Gore's third solo offering. The under-heralded tunesmith took a different approach, born of experimentation and necessity, with her latest effort, explaining to Exclaim! how her process evolved to adapt to an increasingly techno-centric environment....." - Exclaim!


"Consequence of Sound Album Preview Stream - Sept 5, 2014"

(please see link, not a review but an album stream) - Consequence of Sound


"Exclaim! Album Review - Sept 5, 2014"

"Idols In The Dark Heart is full of subtly beguiling rhythmic complexity, bewitching turns of phrase and distinctively picturesque arrangements that enrich her more universally digestible pop instincts...A gloriously realized ecosystem of sound and lyrical musing on the messy substance of human emotion, Idols In The Dark Heart is one of the year's best." - Exclaim! 9 out of 10 - Exclaim!


"Popmatters Album Review - Sept 4, 2014"

"Valery Gore's 'Idols in the Dark Heart' is a beguiling album, one that charms the listener with its refusal to give into or yield towards being anything other than a painting or sculpture in sound." - Popmatters


"Quip Magazine Album Review - Aug 16, 2014"

"...a soliloquy of a professional musician with ten years experience making albums. Listening to Idols in the Dark Heart will give you the feeling that somebody went through a lot of work to get those sounds into your ears, and it’s a rewarding sensation. Relatively unknown and definitely underrated, Valery Gore has created a collection that could define her as one of the top indie artists of North America when it comes out this September." - Quip Magazine


"Stereogum Single Premiere - Aug 11, 2014"

"It’s an exploration of the complexity of human relationships across a variety of sounds." - Stereogum


"KUTX 98.9 (Austin, TX) Song of the Day - Aug 11, 2014"

"'Amsterdam' sounds like three songs packed into one, marrying a trip-hop atmosphere to Gore’s remarkable voice. Her closest contemporary might be Fiona Apple, another songwriter who likes to inject her melodies with high drama. Yet even with the careful braininess of the composition, “Amsterdam” is simply a great song–no classical training needed." - KUTX.com


"Hilldilly Single Review/Preview - Aug 11, 2014"

"Based on what we’re hearing thus far from her art, too, we can say unquestionably that she’s one worth getting excited about...an incomparable sound that sees glitchy synth sounds and erratic arrangements blended with her airy vocals. The juxtaposition of the two different timbres is something to truly behold, and we’ve no doubts that when Idols In The Dark Heart drops, that it’ll be full of pleasant sonic surprises like this." - Hilldilly


"Impose Magazine Interview - Jul 25, 2014"

"[Gore premieres new single] unleashing the city-spangled pop balladry on, “Amsterdam”. Chamber pop takes turns down the alleyways paved in cobblestones, that lead to the grand centrum created out of big orchestral arrangements." - Impose Magazine


"Wondering Sound Single Premiere - Jul 22, 2014"

"The world the song paints is vivid, fragrant, and strange." - Wondering Sound


"AUX.TV Valery Gore journeys to the dark heart of Berlin - April 14, 2014"

In 2008, Toronto-based indie-pop singer Valery Gore released Avalanche to Wandering Bear, a jazz-infused follow up to her 2005 self-titled debut. Its enigmatic lyrics and Gore’s arresting, slightly Feist-ian voice deepened the classically trained pianist’s idiosyncratic sound.

In the time since ATWB, Gore toured Canada with her band, did shows in Australia, China, L.A., and Canadian festival dates with Buck 65, fell in love with Germany’s music culture during a two-month stay in Berlin, and allowed what would become her third album, Idols in the Dark Heart, to percolate.

“I had written a handful of songs around 2010 that changed quite drastically before we went into the studio in 2012,” Gore says from her home in Toronto. Meanwhile, she learned more about home recording, which “broadened her scope” and her approach to songwriting. “It led me away from starting every song at the piano,” she says. “I wanted to focus more on percussive ideas and bass parts first.” Gore also shifted from the soul and Motown that informed ATWB, describing her latest as somewhere between “acoustic instrumentation and electronic influence.”

Devon Henderson, her longtime bass player, co-producer, and “musical soul mate,” and engineer Dean Nelson (Beck, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Jamie Lidell), provided creative input, helping to shape rough demos. Gradually, the trio formed a clear idea of what they wanted to do in the studio. The result is a deeply personal oeuvre on relationships; its abstruse title was inspired by a line in poet Anne Carson’s book, Decreation.

“This album has a lot to do with struggles in my relationships with others,” Gore shares. “I’ve always had a hard time letting go of relationships, wondering what I could have done differently. I think these are like surrender songs—me admitting to myself that they’ve dissolved; people who took up a lot of room in my life and heart. The light finally goes out on it and it’s time to focus on more positive relationships in life. So the title seemed fitting.”

The first single, “Hummingbird in Reverse,” was released last spring. Its lush video, set in Norway, was shot and edited by Sebastian Fischbeck (that’s his girlfriend in the video, not Gore). “I cried when I first saw it,” Gore says. Hearing the track on German radio stations was also memorable. “It was pretty wild hearing my song being played on foreign FM radio.”

Now, Gore, driven by the “challenge and excitement” of never making the same song twice, is prepping to release the record that she says will “break me or make me expand.” If all goes well, Idols In the Dark Heart, which has yet to find a label, will be released this summer.

“I really am focused on growing in Europe and the UK,” she says. “I hope it opens some new doors internationally, gets some nice radio play, is a good tool to tour my face off, and a good build up to the next record.” - AUX.TV


"Exclaim! Show Review, The Rivoli, Toronto ON - Dec 19, 2013"

“Gore once again demonstrated that she’s quite possibly the most underrated sonic artist in this or any other country, breathing new life into traditional song forms with idiosyncratic melodies, subtly complex rhythms and eclectic arrangements that reveal an expansive listening palate.” - Exclaim!


"THE LINE OF BEST FIT - Oh! Canada 23 - Jan 31, 2014"

“While her acclaimed piano playing still features, the record finds Gore moving in a different direction, augmenting the intricate arrangements with electronic textures, synths and an electro-pop sheen.” - THE LINE OF BEST FIT


"NOISEY Video Premiere, Shoes of Glass - Mar 11, 2013"

“And the Canadian singer makes exactly the kind of music we want to hear-a warm early summer evening’s mixture of melancholy and joy, dream, sun, relaxation and still dance.” - NOISEY/VICE


"NXNE SIX QUICK PICKS - EYE MAGAZINE"

This local chanteuse's self-titled debut album, just a month after release, has already achieved the ultimate benchmark for all intriguing artists: it instantly divides listeners between enthusiasts and antagonists. But Gore's cryptic cabaret-tone poems are a revelation for those who prefer their pop with some assembly required.

- Stuart Berman - EYE MAGAZINE


Discography

September 2014 - Idols In The Dark Heart (Label TBD)

2008
- Avalanche To Wandering Bear (Do Right Music/Outside Music)

2005 - S/T (Six Shooter Records/Warner Music Canada)

Photos

Bio

Valery Gore set out to claim new territory on her third and upcoming album Idols In The Dark Heart. Four years in the making, this album charters a course across the turbulent waters of human relationships, encountering love, loss, and the shadows of nostalgia and doubt. Navigated by Gore’s throaty, candid voice, the listener is swept through a lush and lyrical paradise filled with synth melodies, confident acoustics and low Moog bass lines. The end result is an exquisitely crafted blend of woven harmonies and melodic hooks that feels like a journey to exotic shores.

Gore was a pianist before explorer. Training formally from the age of eight, she developed her classical chops into conceptual songwriting with a shift to jazz studies at Humber College in Toronto, Valery’s home base. Her debut album established her solid fan base and reputation for innovative songwriting, and Exclaim Magazine noted her second album, Avalanche To Wandering Bear as “one of the best written and produced records of the year.” Now Gore’s back with her most exciting collection of songs to date, where ideas are expressed in beats and bass lines, and the piano makes room for the conversing of guests. The structure of the album is rich and textured, yet still accessible with its pop smarts pleasantly intact.

Idols was co-produced by Gore’s long-time bassist Devon Henderson, which gave this musical expedition a natural unfolding as the two passed fleshed out demos back and forth before hitting the studio. Working with engineer Dean Nelson (Beck, Jamie Lidell, Charlotte Gainsbourg) and mix engineer Chris Stringer (Timber Timbre, The Wooden Sky) lent a new dynamic to the rhythms and melodies that pulse through the album like currents, ferrying the listener along with a beautiful mystery.

These past few years have found Gore on two International tours of Germany, Switzerland, and England. Along with her band, she has performed in venues across Canada and as part of the Toronto Jazz Festival, Ottawa Bluesfest, Atlantic Jazz Fest, Pop Montreal, NXNE, CMW, and Evolve Festival. She performed with Buck 65 at the Vancouver Jazz Festival, Jazz Winnipeg Festival, and Home County Folk Festival. Japan, Australia, China, and L.A. have also been stops on Gore’s tour map. With heavy radio airplay in Germany (FluxFM, Berlin) and on CBC’s various programs, Valery has also performed live on Q with Jian Ghomeshi, Radio 2 Drive, Canada Live, Metro Morning, GO, Bandwidth, and XM Radio’s The Verge.

Valery’s self-titled debut album was released in 2005 through Six Shooter Records/Warner Music Canada. Her sophomore album Avalanche To Wandering Bear was released in 2008 through Do Right Music/Outside Music.

Idols In The Dark Heart is slated for release in September 2014. In a recent show review, Exclaim Magazine described Gore as “quite possibly the most underrated sonic artist in this or any other country, breathing new life into traditional song forms with idiosyncratic melodies, subtly complex rhythms and eclectic arrangements that reveal an expansive listening palate. Casual and charming on stage when not astounding with her involving piano work and vocals.”

Band Members