Ayleen Valentine Releases Double Single “a/b__1”

Ahead of her upcoming headlining tour, Ayleen Valentine has released “a/b__1”, a double single package comprised of tracks “anesthetized” and “stars” that show off her production and artist capabilities. 

“anesthetized” begins with an isolated piano melody that becomes joined by drums and eerie synths to create a lo-fi-style backing for Valentine’s vocals. Hauntingly, Valentine cuts through the sonic layers to sing “And if we said goodbye, just know I tried and tried and tried and tried. But I just never really seem to understand”. 

The track illustrates the feeling of being stuck in a numb emotional state. The music video sees Valentine running through an empty hallway, opening doors to find its occupants frozen in a moment. As the song peaks with emotional catharsis, everyone becomes released from their anesthetized state. 

“stars” picks up where “anesthetized” leaves off with Valentine further showing off her production prowess as she addresses the confusion of losing someone you love. Her simple lyrics hit like a sucker punch. "Why'd you make it hard/ why'd you break my heart?"

On “stars”, Valentine breaks away from the traditional verse/chorus structure to create a short and sweet track that stands out. Amid a backdrop of gritty synths, unconventional drums, and an array of electronic guitars, her vocals function as an instrument within it and become another texture within the hyper-pop universe.

The video for "stars" continues the trend of cathartic release that Valentine experienced in "anesthetized". Featuring the same hallway as before, Valentine finds freedom and the dark/light flashes of the video match the hyper-pop style production.