Just ahead of her eagerly awaited US tour, GRAMMY-nominee Valerie June has shared “Use Me,” the first new original track from the celebrated singer-songwriter since the release of her widely acclaimed 2021 LP, The Moon And Stars: Prescriptions For Dreamers.
Co-written by Valerie and noted songwriter and producer Jennifer Decilveo (Miley Cyrus, Demi Lovato, Andra Day), “Use Me” is an irresistible slice of Memphis soul that once again affirms Valerie’s powerful ability to connect. “We’ve made a sphere from a circle unbroken,” sings Valerie. “We’ve got true love, not just three words spoken.”
“As a bridge between modern music and traditional songs, ‘Use Me’ vacillates between upbeat pop and weaves in the old, familiar hymn, ‘Will the Circle Be Unbroken,’” explains June. “Coming full circle, this represents multiple layers of how through love, families, and communities, whether publicly or personally, in life and beyond death, we can use each other to create gorgeously positive changes.
“Oftentimes, the voices of encouragement are from the women in our lives. We use the guidance of mothers, sisters, aunts, and daughters. I’m thrilled to release this song in celebration of International Women’s Month because it was my very first time working with a female producer, Jennifer Decilveo. Female producers are not easy to come by in the music industry, so this collaboration was extra special.”
Valerie June’s album The Moon and Stars: Prescriptions For Dreamers was one of 2021’s most celebrated releases. Produced by June and Jack Splash, the album is “a psychedelic tour de force” that is “powerfully, elegantly subversive” (Uncut) and “a stunning song cycle of redemption and reclamation” (Rolling Stone).
June’s spellbinding vocals and infectious sense of wonder ground the record, and “her every quiver bespeaks emotional honesty” (New Yorker). The follow-up to her 2013 breakthrough, Pushin’ Against A Stone, and the widely adored The Order of Time — a 2017 effort that earned the admiration of Bob Dylan and landed on best-of-the-year lists — The Moon and Stars: Prescriptions For Dreamers is landmark work for the Memphis-born, Brooklyn-based auteur.