Valeree, the chosen moniker for 24-year-old unsigned artist Megan Mortensen, has released her latest in a slew of singles that have made her one of the more affecting up and coming names in music right now. Her newest single, “Dive,” a cutting rock ballad that puts her heart-aching chops center stage, follows previously released “Any Other Way.”
With influences from Etta James and Otis Redding to modern songstresses like Amy Winehouse, Valeree’s cathartic use of her own singer/songwriter talents and candid authenticity make her a formidable and emotive artist. Struggles with addiction, heartbreak, and trauma fill her powerful ballad pieces, with “Dive” serving as her first honest tackling in penning a love song that was true to herself–and the result is nothing short of that.
“This was the first song I workshopped with [Producer] Adam Allison. I wrote [Dive] really quickly, I think the total time was about 20 minutes. The lyrics and melody came to me really naturally, in one of those magical moments songwriters long for but rarely experience… Writing this song was a monumental experience for me in a few ways, one being that it was the first time I’d written overlapping vocal elements… The other monument was that I’ve really struggled to write a sort of cut-and-dry love song. I have written tons of songs about love, sex, romance and everything in-between but they usually have at least some tinge of negativity or self-aware impermanence. This was the first tried and true love song I’ve ever written that I actually liked, and one of the first I’d ever successfully written without being negative.”
Catch Valeree live in Los Angeles on Thursday, Feb 27th at the Lexington Bar in DTLA at 8:30 pm. Visit Valeree’s website, Facebook, and Instagram to stay updated on new releases and tour announcements.
