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Photo by Vanessa Heins

Valley’s last album, Water the Flowers, Pray for a Garden, found the Canadian band navigating the loss of a member and proving to themselves that there was still a version of Valley worth chasing. Now, after two years spent writing, recording, and rediscovering the joy of making music together, they’re entering a new chapter. Today, Valley released their latest single and music video, “Don’t You Forget About Me?” as well as announced their latest album, Do You Need To Be Entertained? and an upcoming world tour. 

Co-produced with Chase Lawrence of COIN, the new album is looser, messier, and more playful. The lead single “Vending Machine,” which was released in June, offers the first glimpse into that world, asking questions about connection, transaction, and entertainment. It also introduces the phrase that became central to the record after Lawrence’s eight-year-old niece called mid-studio session and asked: “Do you need to be entertained?”

About a month ago, in the middle of fittings for the “Don’t You Forget About Me?” music video, we had the opportunity to chat with Valley frontman Rob Laska about finding fun again, their partnership with Lawrence, cows, covers, life on the road, and what it means to make something personal knowing it might simply be the soundtrack of someone’s drive to work.

OnesToWatch: So, you're announcing the album soon. You're sharing a new single, which I do know is "Don't You Forget About Me?” I haven't heard the album, and I haven't heard the new single, so I'm kind of going in blind. So I guess, generally, I want to hear your pitch for this album.

Rob Laska: This is the longest we've ever taken to make an album. I feel like where we landed with the last album (Water the Flowers, Pray for a Garden), we had obviously lost a band member, and I think the last album was so much about proving to ourselves that we can do this just the three of us, not out of spite, but just out of love for the chase of still doing it. The last album was all about capturing things quickly and not overthinking it. I think if we took two years, like we took to make this new album, to make the last album, I don't know if we would have gotten here. The last album was all about: we go away for a month, we go to the mountains, we are feeling all these things, we're grieving losing a band member and figuring out this next chapter, and it happened very quickly. That's why I think Water the Flowers did a lot for us internally as a band and re-shifted things and put things into focus properly again. This album is the opposite of that. We toured Water the Flowers for six months of the year and really had a run, and then we were trying to figure out how to be a band post-grieving. It was this weird period of, “Okay, we got through that together, and we grew the garden, so to speak. How do we live in this now, and how do we build a new chapter?” It’s all about self-entertaining ourselves. It's about entertaining others. It's about understanding the idea that entertaining and entertainment in itself is also the hard part of making an album. It's grieving things, going through breakups, going through friendship breakups, going through the death of family and friends. All those things bleed into ultimately this 12-song thing that, for some people, is just meant to entertain them. We found joy and a pureness in understanding that for the first time.

We put so much into this of our lives; you pour so much into the music, and then for some people, it's just a drive to work, or it's something that they hear in the bathroom, but that's beautiful. Whichever way we soundtrack people's lives, I think it's important. This album was all about leaning into that. How do we entertain ourselves first by making this album? Then ultimately, that becomes other people's entertainment. We made a lot of this record live off the floor. We tracked it in the studio. It's very crunchy. There's a lot more looseness and messiness in this album. It’s so opposite the last album, and we always knew it would be the opposite.

Well, “Vending Machine” kind of starts with that idea of entertainment. You're on the set for a music video right now. Can you talk about that part of the creative process?

We always knew “Vending Machine” was the first song to come out because it just felt like a breath of fresh air. We actually wrote it while we were making the last album; it was the one song that didn't make Water the Flowers. It just didn’t fit, and it didn’t make sense in what we were saying then. There's always one song that carries over. So “Vending Machine” was the north star of starting this album since the beginning. It's funny, it's a playful song, but the meaning behind it is this idea of output versus connection, and really analyzing what that means. We've been a band long enough to understand the idea of output versus connection in the music industry and how it has evolved. Making genuine connections with people and building something together always pays it forward, and you feel so much better doing it that way than just, “What can we get from each other? How can we scratch each other's backs in a transactional way?” We’ve felt that before, and it was a song jumbling up all those feelings. You can feel like you're taking from somebody; you can also feel like you're being taken from. The vending machine created that symbol of that message for us in our heads. 

Chase's niece—Chase (Lawrence) is our co-producer on this album—called him in the studio one time, but he wasn't answering. When he finally picked up, the first thing she said was, “Do you need to be entertained?” And that's actually what starts the album and “Vending Machine.” So that’s how the album title came to be. She's eight years old, and just the way she said it on speakerphone felt so profound. It posed so many questions as we were losing our minds in the studio and sent us down a rabbit hole of, “What does that actually mean? Do you need to be entertained, and why? And what happens once you are?” So thanks to Chase's niece for really triggering us to think about that for a longer period of time. “Vending Machine” just felt like the right statement, and secretly letting people know the album title before it’s even been announced is kind of funny. When we announce the album, they'll be like, “Oh, okay, this all makes sense.”

And the music video, the director we work with, Adit Dixit, he’s amazing. The video we’re doing right now for “Don’t You Forget About Me?” is also with him. He has such a vision and is so unbelievably gifted at crafting things. We gave him little bits and pieces for “Vending Machine.” I kept having a lot of daydreams and literal dreams about cows, and I kept seeing cow imagery for some reason, so cows became a big visual for that song.

Does the cow have a name?

Clara. Clara the cow. She's a sweetheart, and she's one of the most famous cow actresses in Canada. The people who brought her on set were amazing, and we had such a beautiful short window of time with her because she couldn't be on set long, but it was really cool. Coming off an album about tending to a garden, I think the imagery is there in the sense that when you tend to it and you take care of it, animals come back to it. It's all habitat-based. There's something there for us about: we tended to our garden enough that we grew the thing properly, and we could do it again in a way that feels healthy and just entertaining too, and just having fun in the studio. We really just wanted to show people that we're having fun again. Like, “Hey, we're a little healed now, and the garden has grown, and there are cows in it now,” which is fun.

Well, you mentioned Chase, and I was gonna ask about him because when I heard “Vending Machine,” I didn't actually know you were working with Chase, but I immediately heard him in it. You've been working with him for a while now, so how does that kind of affect the music you're putting out? 

We toured with him and COIN in 2020, and we started getting closer on that tour, and the timeline lined up so weirdly. We toured with them, then we started writing over Zoom, and literally the same week we wrote “Like 1999,” which was our big kind of TikTok viral moment song. Then the next day we literally jumped on Zoom and wrote the "Water the Flowers, Pray for a Garden” title track, and we weren't even making that album yet. That was like a one-off song, and from then on we always had this little thread attached to each other. He kept up with your music, and he'd text us and be like, "Hey, I love what you're doing. Just keep doing your thing.” Eventually, the stars aligned, and we decided it was time to make an album with him. At the time, his band was also kind of coming to an end, and he was kind of looking for something, I think, to just like hold on to while that was happening. We had a member leave, so we were in the same boat. So the universe just put us in the right room at the right time. So we made Water the Flowers together, and then that process was so healing for us that we were like, “Well, let's just make another album.” We obviously approached this album differently, we went into a studio, we tracked a lot of stuff live, we had a lot of fun playing together. Chase is so good at just making stuff anywhere. So we've also rented B&Bs and done vocals on iPhones. There's no environment that’s too difficult for him to make music, and we really bond over that. He’s so gifted and so talented. We have this intangible connection when we’re all in a room together making stuff, and you can hear so much of how our influences shake hands because we’re just so inspired by the same things, it’s scary how there are just times where things are so interconnected for some reason. We share the same birthday. There’s something in the timeline that shifted, like we were always meant to make music together, so yeah, his influence is incredible. He knows how to make everyone feel like the best version of themselves to make the song happen. I think what has always been a really good thing for us is having someone to push us to just say the things that we want to say that we’re afraid of. 

You also recently opened for The All-American Rejects. 

So fun. One of those bands that’s just like banger after banger, but then you go see them, and you just forget how many! You're like, “Oh, it's that song, and that one, and that one, and that one.” There are just songs that I forgot raised me, you know. I was in grade school when some of those songs were coming out, so it's like they taught me songwriting before I even wanted to write songs. I remember hearing "Dirty Little Secret" or "Gives You Hell" and being like, "Oh, okay, why does the chorus make me feel so good? What is the chorus doing?” I didn't even understand at the time, but those songs are some of the best-written pop songs ever. It was just an honor, and they're all such sweet guys, and I was glad we got to chat a little bit, and I got to tell them like, “Thanks for teaching us how to make songs.” They’re just undeniable, some of the best we've ever heard in our lifetime. So, they're amazing, all of them.

I feel like that kind of era and genre is having like a crazy moment right now. People are like really craving this nostalgia of like “the garage band.”

We joke about it. All the people who listen to that genre of music are a little older now, and now have the money to spend on nostalgia. They're just like cashing in. They're like, “I want to go see all of them. I want to buy all the merch, do all the things.” It's cool to see, it's so hard to tour, and artists are really struggling to get on the road. But for some reason, bands like them are really making it happen off of people just wanting to feel that again. They're also doing so much good work with their shows; they started an app where you can book shows locally in any city, in any venue, and make shows happen, cutting out all the fees and all the bullshit in the middle. It was really cool to support them.

You’re going on a headline tour for the album! What are you looking forward to about that?

Yeah, most of North America first, and then we're doing Europe and Asia later on in the year. We’re just stoked. We haven't toured in a while. I was saying we toured Water the Flowers for six months, so we were pretty spent. We did Europe, Asia; we did our North American tour; then we did another tour doing amphitheaters across America, supporting AJR—it was just a lot of touring. So we were pretty spent, and I feel like now we've had two years to be in the studio and recharge. Like every artist ever who is lucky enough to tour like we do, you learn to live in that cycle of make an album, tour it, make another album, and for some artists it works. For some artists, they’re like, “I need to break out of this. It's too much of the same.” We're pretty used to the timeline now, so we're just looking forward to it. We're at that point where we're getting excited to tour again; we get to enjoy the fruits of our labor and enjoy this album and play it for people for the first time. We're so proud of these songs. It's just exciting. Any chance we get to play live, especially now, we're just excited because a lot of artists can't even tour right now. It's just so expensive, and there are so many loopholes. At this point, just getting in a van and doing it is an absolute feat. So the fact that we can get on a bus and do it across America with a whole crew and production and lighting, and do it affordably, we're just so lucky. 

It is interesting you mention that cycle because I always find it so crazy when artists will write while they're on tour. I always think, “Are you not tired?” 

I don't write a lot on headlines. I'll start little beats and ideas, or we'll often just send voice notes to Chase mumbling a melody. When we're supporting, it's easier. Like last year, when we only played for 30 minutes before AJR, we had all day leading up to it and after our set. On the bus, I had a little studio set up, and it was a little easier when we were just doing 30-minute sets a day. It was pretty chill. Looking back, those were some of the best times of last year touring. Play for 30 minutes in front of like 10,000 people, go make a song on the bus. It was a really sweet time. But yeah, it's very difficult. Not a lot of artists can do it without burning out, especially if you're on a headline; it's such a different brain space. You know, playing a show and performing and putting on your best self on stage, and then the comedown of that after. I think you can definitely train to do it, but in my opinion, it's very difficult to do both.

Is there a city you really love playing?

So many. New York is always classic and fun. Love Salt Lake City, the crowds always go crazy. We love playing in Tokyo too. On the last run, we did three shows in Japan. We did Osaka, Nagoya, and Tokyo, and that was like an absolute trip. Playing Tokyo is still just the coolest thing I think ever. We have the coolest, most fun time there. Yeah, love Salt Lake City, love New York, and honestly, I really love, I’m not saying this just because you're from Texas, but we do have great shows in Texas! Our last show in Austin was at Emo’s, I think. The crowd is so fun there.

You play a lot of Canada shows! You did Osheaga recently. Do festivals feel different? 

They do in a lot of ways. I mean, Osheaga was nerve-wracking because we were the first band to open up the main stage, and it was raining. Honestly, the big thing with festivals is that if the weather is shit, it can get stressful. There was a thunder warning, so we had to delay our set, and then we had to cut songs. It can be stressful when you're dealing with the forces of nature. But other than that, festivals are really fun. It is a different headspace because like half the crowd that we were playing for didn't know who we were. There were obviously our fans in the barricade, and we could find our fans in the crowd, but you're playing for a lot of new people that are like, lining up to, you know, be front row for Lorde. So you're kind of in a different mindset of, not that you're winning a crowd over, but you're playing to people that might not know you. If anything, we play in a way that makes people feel excited about seeing something new that they haven't heard before. I think it's like a nice challenge to make people leave the set and be like, “Wow, I've never heard of this band, but that was really fun and I enjoyed that 40 minutes.” Tour is like you're walking to your own house. You've built it with all these people that you know love your music and have paid and gone through so much to be there with you, so it's a little more comfortable, but both are very fun in their own ways.

I know you did a cover of “Kids” by MGMT last year. For this upcoming tour, are you planning a cover, or is there a song that you would love to cover eventually?

I’m looking for suggestions. I always love taking a song from that time period. MGMT was a big band for me in like grade eight. I remember bringing that album to gym class because my teacher was like, "Everyone, bring an album on CD to play during dodgeball.” I remember I brought MGMT, and that album is so special to me. It was so fun to reimagine a song that I feel like I've known my whole life, and that's always the fun part with covers. It's just finding songs that we can kind of reinvent and kind of throw our little twist on, and I don't know, we'll probably play something. We were originally going to cover "Friday I'm in Love" by The Cure. That was one on the list. We have a few ideas. I hear so many songs day to day that would be fun to mess around with. Yeah, I don't know. No, nothing yet. But looking for suggestions. If you have any, please.

I just love a cover. I think it's always so exciting. Like recently, at the beginning of this year, I went to a Del Water Gap concert, and he did a surprise cover of "Steal My Girl" by One Direction. I've never seen an audience so excited for something, and it was kind of a joke because he had brought out Samia the night prior, and felt bad he didn’t have a guest for the second night. I think it was the loudest song of the night. It was a huge Brooklyn Paramount show, full of his fans who knew like all of the songs by heart, and he sang One Direction and went viral on TikTok. I just think it's special.

I think it's underrated. I mean, a lot of people do covers, but it's like sometimes I forget how much that helps people connect to your own music, and it's just fun. There's a band that's taking off online right now, the booyah! Kids, they're doing that cover of “Ride Wit Me” by Nelly. It’s so good. I think they just put it out, and it's like it's made me want to listen to all their stuff now. So yeah, a cover can be such a good vessel. 

Well, one maybe annoying question I always ask artists is: does it feel like karaoke? 

Yeah, it's not your song, but still your own design. You know, you get to design the track and make it your own, but yeah, I guess it does.

Thanks for humoring me. My last question is: because we're OnesToWatch, who are your OnesToWatch? 

So many. Pressure's on because I've been listening to so much new music. After making an album, I feel like I rediscover so much music because while we're making an album, it's so hard to listen to stuff because you're just overwhelmed with music all day in the studio. The last thing I want to do is go home and listen to music because my ears are just tired. But okay, Emma Ogier, have you guys heard of her? Amazing. She has two songs out that are incredible, called "Baby Don't Hurt Me” and “Believing,” she just put out a song (“Rocksteady/HeavyMetal”) with our friend Eden Joel, who's actually one of the writers on a song that's coming out on our album, but yeah, Emma Ogier, an amazing singer-songwriter out of Nashville. I think she's going to be massive. She's so special. I'm just waiting. The world is slowly picking up on it. 

It happens all the time: I’ll ask artists for their OnesToWatch, and two years later, they’ll be huge.

"Baby Don’t Hurt Me” is one of the best-written songs I've heard in a long time. It has under a million streams right now, but I know that's going to be so different in a year. Eden Joel is also amazing. He has a song called “Deadweight” and “18 Wheeler.” What else? I mean, this isn't a new band necessarily, but I've just been obsessed with Big City Life; it’s an album by Smerz. Oh, I also recently discovered Horse Vision. They have an album called Another Life, and there's a new song called "You Could Have It” that's amazing. I think they're a duo, a really cool band, so that’s what has been on rotation lately.

Do You Need To Be Entertained? is out January 15. 

Listen to "Don't You Forget About Me?" below: