VV - NEON NOIR TOUR 2023

Ville Valo will be back with a new album in a few days. The founder of HIM, the epoch-making Finnish gothic rock band, has announced a European tour under the name VV: they will be performing in Budapest in March 2023.

Few bands have had a greater impact on the history of 21st century alternative rock music than the Finnish pioneers of love metal, HIM, one of the iconic bands of the millennium. The three letters refer to His Infernal Majesty: Ville Valo and his band were both revered and hated, but they certainly left an indelible mark on audiences. The band and its founding singer have endeared themselves to fans as a kind of lovable eccentric.

"We were really hoping that, at least temporarily, we would be able to channel the blood flow of hard rock from the lower regions of the body to the heart." - Ville recalls. HIM has gathered inspiration from Poe to Bukowski, and its unique, melancholy music has been released in the form of eight studio albums spanning the ages. The Grammy-nominated band, who have sold more than 10 million records, were a firm favourite with the press as well as the public, so it was understandably shocking to hear that the 2017 tour was also a farewell.

"As much as I enjoyed HIM's farewell ritual, I actually spent a good few moon cycles licking my wounds in the shadow of Heartagram, trying to find excuses not to continue being a troubadour. Then I found my new voice, and that's how Loveletting was made." Ville started writing music again under the name VV, keeping the old Heartagram symbol, but adding the two V's to it. In spring 2020, Gothica Fennica Vol. 1, the first EP was released in spring of this year.

Loveletting, out on Friday 7 April, is the first single from the Neon Noir album, announced for release in early 2023. The mood of the new song clearly follows the particular, sombre world of thought that is characteristic of HIM, but adds new layers as the flavour of a mature Cabernet becomes subtly more nuanced. And with its instrumentation, the album could prove to be a true landmark in modern music.

Ville will be presenting the new material in Budapest next year, arriving at Barba Negra on 4 March 2023. Tickets go on sale on 11 April.