Sam Valdez - Clean

“I’ve always tried to write from the most genuine place that I can, but, lately, and with this record, I’ve been working on sharing more sides of my views and emotions.”

If you’re looking for a haunting Indie ballad about self-destruction and life on the edge of embracing darkness then Sam Valdez’s latest release, ‘Clean’ is just the tune for you!

There is something about the melancholic depths to which she is willing to sing that can potentially open up the listener to accepting a way of thinking that most people try to push away. Perhaps living through this mode of melancholic and “cruellest kind” of mind may not be the most productive way through life but I think it is important that everyone learn to embrace the reality of this part of ourselves. It is in us all and Valdez does a great job showing us that darkness in this soft and slow situational track.

There is something of the past in this song’s tremulous guitar line with deep reverb. It almost suggests that this is a feeling that is ages old and hits us all. With very little percussion throughout the piece, we get a simple beat to push us along about a third of the way in which picks up only minutely in a seeming demonstration of the bared manner of the song.

Vocally, Valdez gives us a beautifully heartbreaking melody with relatively dry vocals until the harmonies and deep reverb elevate the vocals in the pre-chorus and chorus.

Relatively slow as this tune is there is almost a mantric feeling to it that makes the listener yearn for more and while it is about a standard three and a half minutes, it feels like it just isn’t enough; as though it is built to keep the listener wanting. If that isn’t a reflection of the very feelings that Valdez is working to convey in this piece, then I don’t know that I’ve understood it quite right.

With that said, take the tune how you wish and make sure to keep up to date with Sam Valdez’s wonderful work right HERE!