Biography
After performing with a girl group cover band in Bordeaux, France, Melanie Valera moved to Portland, OR, and formed Tender Forever in 2005. Her first album, Soft and the Hardcore, arrived later that year on K Records and centered on tender, deeply personal material addressing identity, relationships, and taking off your shirt, with Valera supporting herself through basic acoustic guitar and laptop melodies. Listeners noted parallels with Mirah and Anna Oxygen. Dub Narcotic hosted the recording sessions, where Calvin Johnson and Khaela Maricich (aka the Blow) lent assistance; Tender Forever subsequently toured the U.S. alongside Johnson. Wider, released in 2007, found Valera pursuing a brighter synth pop style reminiscent of labelmates the Blow, though No Snare in 2010 revealed a darker, more refined direction.
Albums
