Ville Valo to Release New Single “Loveletting” + Announces Debut Solo Album “Neon Noir” + 2023 Tour Plans

VILLE VALO OF HIM WILL RELEASE NEW SINGLE “LOVELETTING”

VV’S DEBUT ALBUM NEON NOIR DUE FOR RELEASE IN EARLY 2023

2023 HEADLINE TOUR SET FOR EUROPE, UK, + NORTH AMERICA

Finnish Love Metal pioneer, Ville Valo, will release a new single, “Loveletting,” on April 8 under the VV banner. “Loveletting” is taken from VV’s forthcoming debut album Neon Noir.

He explains, “As fun as the funeral rites for HIM were, it took me more than a few moons to lick my wounds in the shadow of the Heartagram and come up with an excuse to strum and hum again. Eventually, I decided to put a leash on my beloved black dog and we started howling together instead of barking at each other. That’s how ‘Loveletting’ was born.”

“Loveletting” will be made available across all digital platforms from midnight (local time) tonight.

An official video clip will follow tomorrow 11am ET here.

VV’s debut album Neon Noir is scheduled for release in early 2023; belonging to the same forlorn world of woe and whimsy once conceived and governed by Valo in HIM, VV arrives with additional nuanced notes of a fine aged Cabernet.

Valo adds, “Artistically speaking, the main difference between HIM and VV is the extra line in the Heartagram, but what an exquisite line it is! It’s the Mamas and the Papas dressed up as Metallica on their way to a Halloween bash at the Studio 54, and now who wouldn’t want to witness that?”

Further details around Neon Noir will be released in due course. In the meantime, fans are invited to any number of VV’s headline tour dates taking place next year across Europe, the UK, and North America. Naturally starting in Helsinki, Finland, the 2023 extensive run reaches the UK in March, before heading toAmerica come April.

U.S. tickets will be available for purchase from Friday, April 15 at 10am local time.

NORTH AMERICAN 2023 TOUR DATES:
4/1—Philadelphia, PA—Theatre of Living Arts
4/2—Boston, MA—Big Night Live
4/4—Pittsburgh, PA—Roxian Theatre
4/5—Cleveland, OH—House of Blues
4/6—Detroit, MI—St Andrews Hall
4/8—Cincinnati, OH—Bogarts
4/9—Chicago, IL—House of Blues
4/11—Minneapolis, MN—Varsity Theater
4/13—Denver, CO—Summit
4/14—Salt Lake City, UT—The Depot
4/16—Sacramento, CA—Ace of Spades
4/17—San Francisco, CA—The Fillmore
4/18—Los Angeles, CA—The Belasco
4/21—Las Vegas, NV—House of Blues
4/22—San Diego, CA—House of Blues
4/23—Phoenix, AZ—The Van Buren
4/25—Dallas, TX—House of Blues
4/26—San Antonio, TX—Aztec Theater
4/27—Houston, TX—House of Blues
4/28—New Orleans, LA—House of Blues
4/30—Orlando, FL—House of Blues
5/1—Ft Lauderdale, FL—Revolution
5/3—Atlanta, GA—Buckhead Theatre
5/4—Nashville, TN—Brooklyn Bowl
5/5—Charlotte, NC—Underground
5/7—Silver Spring, MD—The Fillmore
5/8—New York, NY—Irving Plaza

ABOUT VILLE VALO:
In the annals of 21st century alternative rock history, there are few artists who cast a longer or more peculiar shadow than Finnish Love Metal pioneer Ville Valo. After all, his band HIM was easily among the most iconic and idiosyncratic groups of the millennium. Zealously revered, gleefully reviled, but impossible to ignore, their music left an indelible mark on a worldwide legion of fans. The scarlet letters stood for His Infernal Majesty. Their founder stood for something delightedly out of step with the status quo. “We only hoped to temporarily redirect hard rock’s blood flow from the nether regions towards the heart,” reminisces Ville Valo, the singer, songwriter and primus motor of HIM. Judging by the monolithic presence of the Heartagram in any account of music this side of the millennium it’s apparent that he succeeded. Inspired by everyone from Poe to Bukowski, and tinged by a penchant for perfumed Sabbathian gloom, Valo’s creative lovechild would produce eight era-defining studio releases and over 10 million record sales, not forgetting a Grammy nomination, countless magazine covers, critical acclaim, and the veneration of a generation. Thus it came as no surprise that the news of a farewell tour in 2017 was greeted with shock and disbelief among devotees and endless speculation as to what or who was to take up the velvet mantle.

Blu-ray Review “The Neon Demon”

Director: Nicolas Winding Refn
Starring: Elle Fanning, Karl Glusman, Jena Malone, Bella Heathcote, Abbey Lee, Christina Hendricks and Keanu Reeves
Rated: R (Restricted)
Studio: Broadgreen
DVD Release Date: September 27, 2016
Run Time: 117 minutes

Film: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Blu-ray: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Extras: 2 out of 5 stars

Nicolas Winding Refn is a director that is not for everyone but for those that love him really love him. I was a huge fan of “Drive” and his style just speaks to me personally. So when “The Neon Demon” came around I went in completely blind and was absolutely blown away with this film. Elle Fanning is absolutely breathtaking as a person as with her performance. I hardly blinked when she was on screen. Jena Malone, Bella Heathcote, Abbey Lee are defiantly evil and even Christina Hendricks and Keanu Reeves pop in throughout. Reeves in particularly is one hell of a creep and nails it perfectly. Cliff Martinez delivered what is easily my favorite score of the year, which made this film work just so well! I found myself holding my breath and unable to look away at this marvel! If you enjoy something that isn’t a sequel or remake/reboot, this is a must see!

Official Premise: The Neon Demon is a sumptuous horror-thriller, set in the highly competitive and often vicious world of fashion modeling, where the term “eat their own” takes on a decidedly new meaning. When aspiring model Jesse (Fanning) moves to Los Angeles, her youth and vitality are devoured by a group of beauty-obsessed women who will use any means necessary to get what she has.

“The Neon Demon” is literally one of the most beautiful films I have seen. The 1080p transfer is fantastic! I would have loved to see this film get a 4K release! The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround works absolutely perfectly with my electronic soundtrack by Cliff Martinez (which is also my favorite score of the year). Martinez has scored Refn’s previous films “Drive” and “Only God Forgives”. Unfortunately, the special features are rather light. The audio commentary with Refn and Fanning is a must listen if you like the film but it is only followed by two short featurettes: “Behind the Soundtrack of The Neon Demon (05:08)” and “About The Neon Demon (01:12), way too short to fully get the behind-the-scenes feature.

 

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