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All Music Guide:
Melanie Valera was part of a girl group cover band in her hometown of Bordeaux, France, before landing in Portland, OR, and starting Tender Forever in 2005. On Soft and the Hardcore, which appeared later that year through K Records, Valera sang tender, extremely personal songs about identity, relationships, and taking off your shirt, accompanying herself with simplistic acoustic guitar and laptop melodies. Similarities to Mirah and Anna Oxygen were acknowledged. Soft and the Hardcore was recorded at Dub Narcotic with help from Calvin Johnson and Khaela Maricich (aka the Blow); Tender Forever later toured the U.S. with Johnson. On 2007's Wider, Valera moved in a brighter synth pop direction that recalled labelmates the Blow, but by the time of 2010's No Snare, her music had taken a darker, more polished sound.
Wikipedia:
Tender Forever is the performing name of musician Melanie Valera. She was born in 1977 in South West France and currently lives in Portland, Oregon. Valera has worked on multimedia projects, including collaborations with film maker Ted Passon, artist Nick Lally and producer Christopher Doulgeris. Most recently, she performed at the Time-Based Art Festival 2010 in Portland, Oregon, the Whitney Museum of American Art in New-York City and La Cité Internationale Universitaire in Paris. Valera is currently recording her fourth album and received the RAAC (Regional Arts & Culture Council) Grant to complete a collaborative project called MAZED with Peter Burr.
She is openly lesbian.Cite error: There are <ref> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist}} template (see the help page).
