January 18, 2020

Written By Shanya Olivares

VALLEYHEART DEBUTS THEIR DYNAMIC ROCK ANTHEM "T.I.K"

Growing up in an urban setting, it is rare that I am surprised by things, but Valleyheart has managed to grab my attention with their new single ‘T.I.K’. Unfortunately, this is the first time I have ever heard of them, so I started with their highly recommended 2018 album, which is amazing! But that’s not the release I want to discuss with you all today, I want to talk about their recent single ‘T.I.K,’ which is an acronym for ‘Thoughts I Keep.’

Small introduction to Valleyheart first, they are a four piece band from Massachusetts, a state that even after 6 years of being taught how to pronounce it, I still can’t. They have gotten quite popular considering the short amount of time that they’ve been a band, formed in 2016 and releasing their first EP in 2017. They are incredibly accomplished as well, having won the title ‘Rock Artist of the Year’ at the Boston Music Awards and gotten nominated for ‘Album of the Year.’ 

While I will talk about the positively eccentric music video, there are a few words I want to share about the song in general. The song is very punk-rock, with a heavy instrumental to backup the lyrics of the song. When we first heard of this song, we were told it would dive into “contradictory nature of the psyche and contemplates understanding paradoxical behaviors,” which was what first captured our attention. The song does have an emotional feel to it, while it captures the personality of the songwriter, feeling like there’s nothing left, no motivation. 

While the song alone is amazing, the music video adds an aspect we didn’t know was missing. I will admit that the first time I saw it I was confused, but that’s what’s so great about the addition of this music video. It shows different scenes that don’t fail to surprise you, yet they don’t grab the attention of the emotional song playing in the back, they complement each other in an odd way. As I watch this over again, maybe you will see this video and think, ‘this is what it feels like to have no motivation’. Maybe that’s what Valleyheart is trying to do, relate to the feeling of feeling like your body is there, but you are not, or maybe I’m reading too much into it. The fun part is that you get to decide what all of it means. 

While I do recommend ‘T.I.K’, I also recommend you listen to some of their older music, maybe you’ll find that they have the making of your new favorite band. ‘T.I.K’ was released on January 15, 2021, and it is available on all your streaming platforms.