Valerie Ghent – ‘New York City Streets’

Raised in SoHo and Greenwich Village, New York City, Valerie Ghent has music in her veins, with both her parents in the industry – her father Emmanuel was known to many as a pioneer of electronic music, and her mother Natasha peformed with the American Ballet Theatre and Queens Symphony. Valerie’s single, ‘New York City Streets’, is a love letter to New York City, and comes from her fourth album, ‘Velours’, released in 2016.

Valerie began writing and practising music from an early age and did a four-year apprenticeship with UK producer Mike Thorne, known for his work with Soft Cell, The Communards, and Laurie Anderson. From there she went on to become the keyboard/vocalist and recording engineer for renowned hit singer songwriters, Ashford & Simpson. Her fourth album, ‘Velours’, was released in 2016 to critical acclaim both in the US and Europe, with ‘New York City Streets’ her second most played song on Spotify. An homage to the streets she grew up on, Valerie’s love of “the centre of the universe” is evident in the video which has been released alongside the track, with her beaming smile and enthusiasm lighting up every frame. Filmed by Fredy Mfuko, Elisa Zazzera, and Tom Bisio, we see Valerie in all five boroughs of New York City, walking and singing about Manhattan, Staten Island, Brooklyn, Queens, and The Bronx, giving a local’s eye view of her home city.

Valerie’s emotive voice is accompanied by jazzy and funky saxophones and piano, and makes us want to get on a plane right now and fly to New York City.

You can find out more about Valerie Ghent online on her official website, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. ‘Velours’, including ‘New York City Streets’, is available to stream on Spotify, Deezer, and Apple Music, and as a download and audio CD from Amazon and CD Baby.

Valerie Ghent - New York City Streets (OFFICIAL VIDEO)

About the author

Lisa has been writing for over 20 years, starting as the entertainment editor on her university newspaper. Since then she's written for Popwrapped, Maximum Pop, Celebmix, and ListenOnRepeat.

Lisa loves all good music, with particular fondness for Jedward and David Bowie. She's interviewed Edward Grimes (Jedward), Kevin Godley, Trevor Horn, Paul Young, Peter Cox (Go West), Brendan B Brown (Wheatus), Bruce Foxton (The Jam), among many many more. Lisa is also available for freelance writing - please email lisa@essentiallypop.com

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