OXFORD HAS a rich tradition of producing some of England's best rock and alternative music acts; witness Radiohead, Supergrass, Foals, and Sornoway, and to that illustrious list we can also add Hugo Manuel, who goes under the stage name Chad Valley.
Chad Valley plays Strange Brew at the Róísín Dubh on Thursday May 12 at 10pm, playing music from his albums Entirely New Blue (2015 ) and Young Hunger (2012 ), as well as the EPs Equatorial Ultravox (2011 ) and Chad Valley (2010 ). Artists such as Twin Shadow, Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, El Perro Del Mar, and Active Child have appeared on Chad's albums, hinting at the kind of respect the Englishman commands.
For his part, Chad says of collaboration: "It was always the intention to have loads of guests from the very beginning. As a way to involve more people than anything else; because I think it's hard, as a solo musician, to not get really introspective...I wanted to have other voices in there to widen the palette."
Chad's music mixes Balearic pop, indie, electronica, and rock. His best known song is 'Shell Suite' from the hit film Warm Bodies. Under the Radar has said of Chad's music that he makes "little attempt to veil his affection for the zillion-dollar, slickly produced, mammoth-sized pop albums of the 1980s; the results are as charming and imaginative."
Support is from Snow Place Like Home and Beach. Admission is free.
