Kevin Bronson on October 22nd, 2012

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Seven months later, we remember two things about coming across Chad Valley at SXSW: 1) Our feet were as aching as his music was soothing, and 2) We kept getting Tears for Fears flashbacks. Next week, the Oxford, U.K., electro alchemist’s debut “Young Hunger” comes out. And our feet are much better, thank you, and we’re still having flashbacks. Which is OK – many of this era’s euphonious falsetto-wielders would do well to have more spine behind their shiny production. And, by and large, the artist born Hugo Manuel does: His Technicolor romances come festooned with robot beats and arching proclamations, albeit without the squishy preening of, say, Twin Shadow (who appears as a guest on the album). El Perro del Mar and L.A.’s Active Child and Glasser guest on the album too (streaming in full here).

||| Stream: “Tell All Your Friends,” “Fall 4 U” (featuring Glasser) and “I Owe You This” (featuring Twin Shadow):

||| Live: Chad Valley performs tonight at It’s a School Night at Bardot.