Valerie Lighthart can do it all. The Milwaukee creative works in the fields of film, photography, writing, acting, and modeling. Recently, Lighthart also added “musician” to her already-bursting résumé. Though she’s been playing guitar and ukulele for two years, she made her live solo debut this past June with an hour-long performance at Porchfest in Boston. Having already contributed vocals to other people’s projects, Lighthart is now ready to put her own work out into the world.
Before she releases a three-song EP this fall, the Milwaukee multi-hyphenate just put out what she calls “a prelude” to the debut. “I’ll Be Damned” is Lighthart’s first single. The song—which won’t be on the forthcoming EP—taps into the singer-songwriter’s folk influences, but also has an electronic sheen provided by Immortal Girlfriend. Lighthart first met the producers during the filming of their “Daybreak” music video earlier this year. She played them a demo version of “I’ll Be Damned” and they built a larger-than-life soundscape around her heartfelt acoustic number.
“I really wanted to work with Immortal Girlfriend, not only because I really enjoyed their sound, but really admired them as people and friends,” Lighthart says. “They have a vast and dynamic range of music that they enjoy and can create very well, so during our studio sessions there was a wonderful freedom to the collaboration to try out different styles and pinpoint a specific sound.”
Get ready for Valerie Lighthart’s EP and hear her unlikely-yet-awesome collaboration with Immortal Girlfriend by streaming “I’ll Be Damned” below.