Jack Valero’s two sets at Glastonbury Festival last month helped introduce him to an ever-growing audience, showing those present the sharply observed songwriting that has won praise from a host of tastemakers as well as repeated airplay at 6 Music and Radio X. It’s a talent that’s worth coming back for, as Valero demonstrates with his brand new single Temporary Helplessness. Both this track and his recent single Pull Back The Hammer will feature on a new EP which will follow later in the summer.
Jack Valero @ Glastonbury Festival 2023
As with his previous single, Temporary Helplessness sees Valero’s songwriting given a double-shot of stirring potency courtesy of his new live band. It’s a song which evokes the jangle pop of the ‘80s indie scene for a new generation, and, much like many of the bands of that scene, its bright, upbeat energy initially masks the darker heart of its lyrics. As his words indicate (“I’m building up to take you on, but every time I fall apart”), it addresses a challenge which is all too often an uphill battle.
Valero says: “When I was in counselling, I talked a lot about my frequent and seemingly random panic attacks. My counsellor described them as a ‘temporary helplessness’ and that phrase really stuck with me. As I’ve said in the past, I love juxtapositions, so I ended up writing a song about dealing with these feelings of temporary helplessness to a happy tune. It almost in a way reflects the difficult situation of your environment being fine or even great and yet inside feeling like you’re falling into a never-ending pit.”
His second single under a new deal with Modern Sky (The Lottery Winners, Jamie Webster, The Slow Readers Club), Temporary Helplessness was written by Valero and recorded at Echo Zoo Studios in Eastbourne with producer Romeo Stodart (The Magic Numbers) and engineer Dave Izumi.
The accompanying video for the new track features Jack alongside his band: Erik Litstrom (guitar), Maxine Cahill (bass), Theo Williams-Burchell (drums) and Amie Shouler (backing vocals). The visual plays upon the song’s deep dive into the realities of anxiety and isolation by showing just how much difference friendship and community can make when the band are later reunited.
Check out the video below:
Jack and friends’ upcoming live shows commence with a hometown show at Brighton’s Folklore Rooms before playing two very different outdoor shows. They will play a Summer By The River festival show at The Scoop on London’s Southbank alongside Romain Axisa and Tilda Allie for Front Row Songs on 27th July. The following day, they will head to Kendal Calling to play Tim Peaks Diner, the festival’s cabin/music emporium/coffee shop destination that was founded by Charlatans frontman Tim Burgess.
Check out photos from Jack Valero’s Avalon Cafe set at Glastonbury Festival:
The current dates are, with more to be announced soon:
JULY
6th – Folklore Rooms, Brighton
27th – Southbank, Summer By The River, London
28th – Tim Peaks Diner, Kendal Calling
AUGUST
5th – Folk Festival, Barking
5th – Multitude Festival, Milton Keynes
SEPTEMBER
2nd – Cerne Abbas, Dorchester
NOVEMBER
4th – 19 Something Festival, Reading
DECEMBER
8th -Fire Station, Sunderland (supporting Tom A. Smith)
Live photography of Jack Valero at Glastonbury Festival 2023 by Kalpesh Patel
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