Valerie Lighthart - Love & Money | Photo: Ryan Yatso
Milwaukee-based art-pop artist Valerie Lighthart teams up with queer Latinx pop artist Solana to deliver a musical confection brimming with French pop energy.
Valerie Lighthart | Photo: Ryan Yatso
On the surface, “Love & Money” is bright and vibrant, but underneath, in the lyrics, Valerie presents what is essentially a feminist philosophical treatise about female stereotypes – a celebration of feminine ideals such as longing for love, beauty, and satisfaction.
Speaking to the song, Valerie shares, “I yearned to create a gilded realm to escape inside. I sought and found safe spaces to unpack the difficult feelings I had about womanhood, femininity, sexuality, and autonomy. Through this joyful space, I grew the stability of identity to unpack my ideas on femininity, and analyze the shame that had it in a stranglehold. Women and femmes don’t have a monopoly on shame, but I felt empowered to think about what I knew best: feminine performance in relation to a hyper-sexed and shame-based culture.”
There’s a sugary essence to the harmonics, belying the potent lyrics.
Solana adds, “Whilst celebrating this ambition in "Love & Money", I also explore why these materialistic and capitalist desires are even important, by creating this over-the-top alter-ego. I think it’s fun to ask questions from a first-person perspective, and through this song, I was able to do a bit of soul searching and exploration of the femme experience in our society, the roles we’re encouraged to assume, and the spectrum of desires and goals we have and why we have them. Ultimately this project is about shining light on multi-dimensionality as an intrinsic part of femme nature.”
“Love & Money” introduces Valerie’s trio of EPs, a series collectively entitled By Moonlight, which empowers, encourages, questions, and probes the historical position of women. Collaborating with N43 Records, Valerie will release the series throughout the coming year.
Opening on orchestral tones, elegant and graceful, a thumping drum announces the entry of the art-pop rhythm, like a sweet candy laced with bitter chocolate. There’s a sugary essence to the harmonics, belying the potent lyrics.
“I'm dripped in shining opals / Glittering like a moonstone / I'm the queen of all things / I'll haunt your tender daydreams.”
The video, directed by Valerie Lighthart, depicts a surreal fairyland from the court of Louis XVI. “Love & Money” is deliciously fun and provocative.
