Imogen Valentine fully embodies “Little Miss Optimist”

Valentine grew up with a love for writing music, her earliest memory stemming from a trip to New York where her mom gifted her a notebook that would become the place she would write her very first songs and poems. 

That unconscious love of creating art became more apparent in high school as Valentine turned to writing as a way to navigate her turbulent emotions. “Everyday after school I would lock myself in my room and write a song,” Valentine said. 

She explores the power in understanding the duality of empowerment and vulnerability found within herself throughout the project. 

The opening track, “Golden Girl,” was born after Valentine was “ghosted” by the person she was seeing at the time, ultimately navigating the situation by laughing it off and appreciating the lessons that came from it.

“There’s going to be people that don’t see you and don’t necessarily value you but you have to be able to, in a non-narcissistic way, look in the mirror and [like who you are] despite all of these lesser-than qualities or things that I’ve gone through,” she explains about the origins of this song, “I really just wrote it as a self-love letter to myself.”

Inspired by the same ghosting culprit, the second track, “I Hope Losing Me Haunts You,” is a biting rock anthem that allows Valentine to be angry about the situation. “I thought it was just like a fun play on the whole concept of ghosting and when someone tries to crawl back,” Valentine said. 

“Encrypted,” is the glittery pen pop-song of the project that seems to be made for a dance floor and allows Valentine to show listeners the stylistic range in her music. “I have more to offer than just being sad… I want to be well-rounded as a pop girl,” said Valentine. 

The penultimate title track, “Little Miss Optimist,” was written as a result of being in a relationship that Valentine had recognized was wrong for her. “Even though it wasn’t right for me, he reminded me about the goodness in people and to be optimistic in general, even though something was coming to an end,” Valentine said.  

To promote the EP, Imogen hosted a release show in Brooklyn, New York. “It was my first time playing Lady Karma live, which was really empowering,”Valentine said, “It was also my first time playing piano live.” 

Valentine hopes that fans listen to this project and feel comforted by the songs, however don’t let that stop you from fully enjoying some of the more upbeat tracks. “Going back to the whole theme of duality, [I hope that] they can shake some ass or feel validated. I hope they love it,” she shared. 

When asked about what’s in store for the future, Valentine giggled and said, “I’m really excited to just keep releasing music and see what happens.”

Imogen will be opening for Carly Pearl at Baby’s All Right in Brooklyn, New York on March 8, also known as International Women’s Day. “It’s going to be a fun female showcase,” Valentine expressed, excited to perform and play the new songs again.