Chad Valley OX4 Festival @ The Bullingdon, Oxford 9/10/10
4/5
By: Liane Escorza
Oxford is like an ebullient musical melting pot lately. The city is definitely not running out of beans in terms of new surprising acts that tackle disco, hip hop, rock, country, pop, noise, or anything else that takes their fancy. Chad Valley is one of these emerging new talents, and they shine brighter than most to have emerged in 2010 (which looks to be a vintage year for new Oxford bands).
Hugo Manuel is the leader of Jonquil, a pretty established tropical pop band stemming from the same city. He does not lack experience as a recorded musician, and less as a live performer after roaming European venues for years. His solo project, Chad Valley, is taking Jonquil fans on a trip with a completely different route, albeit one that’s exciting and fresh, combining disco tunes with versatile vocals and warm 80s sounding rhythms.
Granted, there’s a fine line between the cheesiness and the brilliance of that often unfairly maligned decade, yet Chad Valley knows exactly how to infuse a sprinkling of modernity to proceedings. As a result, his work is a jungle of calm disco dance with nostalgic and melodic harmonies (‘Portuguese Solid Summer’) and aromatic trance numbers with repetitive bass and twinkling keyboards (‘Up and Down’).
His performance brings the most dancefloor-ready elements of his craft into action, and he manages to solidify the songs’ character by enhancing his singing style, an earthy and deeply affecting voice that reverberates out of the speakers and through the bodies of everyone in the venue. If that not were enough, he deals with the crowd like a pro, and doesn’t wince even when his whole act comes to a silent stand-still after the plug is pulled off by an overenthusiastic fan stepping on the cables. Needless to say, his welcoming and warm approach encourages even more girls and boys to jump onstage, invading any possible tiny space left, to proclaim Chad Valley as their favourite party choice of the night; a truly fantastic set, indeed.
Artists in this article: Chad Valley
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