Chad Valley’s “Seventeen” Is The Most Personal Song He’s Ever Written

A press release about Chad Valley's forthcoming full-length, Entirely New Blue, mentions that project mastermind Hugo Manuel worked on it during the dissolution of a long-term relationship. Album cut "Seventeen," premiering below, is a complicated breakup tune, and it's tough to listen without thinking of the first person who ever shattered your heart. But a spark of hope imbues the story, too: It's always dark, but I'm wide awake/ I'm much happier than you think, Manuel yearns peacefully over the ocean-breeze, flourish-filled production—which was crafted by the always-on Joel Ford.

"I can say that this is the most deeply personal song I have ever written," Manuel told FADER in an email. "I was in a pretty weird place when I wrote the lyrics but it served as some kind of therapy, as writing often does for me." Entirely New Blue is out October 2nd via Cascine; watch a brand new behind-the-scenes video about the album below, and check his tour schedule, which includes Cascine's stacked 5YR party in Brooklyn on September 17th.