Exclusive: Listen to Valley Queen’s Searing New Single, ‘Boiling Water’

[Paste Magazine]

By Ellen Johnson

L.A. rock group Valley Queen have been gaining a lot of traction in the last couple of years, both in the media and on tour, and they haven’t even released their first full-length yet. But the wait for that LP is almost over: The cosmically titled Supergiant, the band’s debut album, is out July 13 on Roll Call Records. “Supergiant,” the first single from the record, came out earlier this month, and Valley Queen are releasing the follow-up today, premiering here at Paste. It’s a searing new track called “Boiling Water,” and you can give it a listen below.

Though frontwoman Natalie Carol hails from Little Rock, Ark., she sings with an elasticity that almost resembles an accent (British, perhaps?), which she then employs seamlessly across a wide range of notes. On “Boiling Water,” it’s a seesaw of sounds; Carol plunges frequently from soprano-like warbles into more hearty shouts. The song also employs some hastened drums and a few short, but stellar, guitar movements. “Your mind is on fire,” Carol sings. “It’s like boiling water.”

Carol said of the song and its inspiration:

The lyrics actually came from a book by Bhante Henopola Gunaratana on mindfulness. Shawn got the idea of the refrain of “your mind is on fire / it’s like boiling water / give it all to me and it’s gone” idea from that text a long time ago and we re-approached the song when I just went in and read the symptoms of your mind being like boiling water. The song expresses that state of mind and relating to that sensation.

Supergiant was produced by Lewis Pesacov, who has also worked with Best Coast and Nikki Lane. Valley Queen’s first release, an EP called Destroyer, was released in 2017, but the production of Supergiant gave them a chance to really flex their musical muscles in the studio, according to Carol.

Supergiant was the first time we’ve ever been given the time to sit and record a longer list of songs as one project. I think you hear us enjoying and indulging in that. In the past, we would get studio time for a song, two songs at a time—that approach creates a different result having different songs from different stages. It’s been able to be a more pivotal movement artistically, having this much time and resources to work on something.

Again, Supergiant is out on July 13, and you can listen to the previously released track of the same name here. You can revisit our Best of What’s Next feature about Valley Queen right here, and listen to both “Boiling Water” and the band’s 2016 Daytrotter Session below. Valley Queen have announced new tour dates, as well, which you’ll find further down.

Listen here.

Valley Queen Tour Dates:

July
05-08 – Winnipeg, Manitoba @ Winnipeg Folk Festival
28 – Los Angeles, Calif. @ The Moroccan Lounge

August
01 San Francisco, Calif. @ Cafe du Nord
02 – Davis, Calif. @ Sophia’s Thai Kitchen
03-05 – Happy Valley, Ore. @ Pickathon
07 – Seattle, Wash. @ Sunset Tavern
08 – Spokane, Wash. @ The Bartlett
09 – Missoula, Mont. @ Top Hat Lounge
11 – Denver, Colo. @ Lost Lake Lounge
12 – Salt Lake City, Utah @ Kilby Court
15 – San Luis Obispo, Calif. @ SLO Brew

September
11 – Tempe, Ariz. @ Marquee*
13 – Austin, Texas @ Stubb’s*
14 – Dallas, Texas @ House of Blues*
15 – Houston, Texas @ White Oak Music Hall*
18 – New Orleans, La. @ House of Blues*
20 – Orlando, Fla. @ House of Blues*
21 – Orlando, Fla. @ House of Blues*
22 – Athens, Ga. @ Georgia Theatre*
25 – Richmond, Va. @ The National*
26 – Norfolk, Calif. @ The NorVa*
28 – Philadelphia, Pa. @ Electric Factory*
29 – Silver Spring, Md. @ Fillmore*

(* – notes support dates with Social Distortion)