This Friday (March 6th) Valencia Grace drops the most anticipated pansexual anthem of 2026: “S!ut.” And on March 28th the transatlantic pop icon in the making is bringing the most anticipated barroom spectacle of the foreseeable future to the stage of our very own MilkBoy. “S!lut” has been described as, “a chaotic pop-techno dance opera,” while the live show itself is actually an opera: Super Elastic: A Pop Opera. For her first-ever headlining run, Valencia Grace will bring Super Elastic: A Pop Opera to Boston, Brooklyn, Philadelphia, Washington DC, and London (whose show went on sale and sold-out the morning of my recent Zoom chat with Valencia).
“S!ut” follows Valencia Grace’s seventh single of 2025, “Lucky You’re A Star,” a Euro-pop-inspired banger that YouTube user @mauriciob.6066 characterized as, “If Kate Bush sang Princess of Power,” a characterization that my recent chat with Grace would imply is probably well-founded. And while Super Elastic: A Pop Opera is Valencia’s first starring role on concert stages, she’s already performed at some pretty noteworthy events, including Austin City Limits Festival, Outside Lands, Lollapalooza, and Great Escape. During our recent chat, the singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and theatre kid tells me about building the Valencia Grace world, finding her own community of freaks, and her utmost admiration for the Princess of Power herself.
*Interview has been slightly edited for length and clarity.
Izzy Cihak: I heard that you just announced a London show today and it already sold out, so congrats on that!
Valencia Grace: Thank you!
Izzy: And you have an upcoming single, “S!ut,” which drops on March 6th. What can you tell fans about that?
Valencia: It comes with a crazy-bonkers music video! It’s just the most inclusive and uplifting queer song. I wanted to write a song that reflected what it felt to be pansexual, and I thought that the word “slut” was kind of a good way of explaining pansexuality and just loving everyone, but then also taking that word back and redefining what it means. It’s very empowering and dirty and fun.
Izzy: How do you feel like the song compares to previous music, the kind of stuff that your fans already know of you?
Valencia: I think that as I keep going, I just dare harder and harder. I’m pushing myself a lot every single time I write, so I feel like “S!ut” is just the furthest I’ve dared to go, really.
Izzy: You’re gearing up for your first headlining shows with Super Elastic: A Pop Opera, which I’m so excited that you are bringing to Philadelphia at MilkBoy. What can be expected of the live spectacle?
Valencia: I’m very, very excited to go on this show run because it’s going to be my first time dressing up the stage… as well as myself. You can expect stage design that reflects the dark beauty that the music shows, very ethereal, burlesque but haunting, and very Tim Burton-inspired.
Izzy: Most of your previous shows were on some pretty massive stages, so I’m curious how you like the idea of bringing your live show to much more intimate spaces?
Valencia: I’ve been craving that so much. I’m very grateful to be doing a headline show to begin with, that’s like crazy! But intimate venues are so special. I did my first-ever headline so long ago, and I remember feeling very, very, very nervous. And as soon as I got on stage and opened my mouth and started singing everyone was singing the words with me. And, after that, I just thought, “We’re all here for each other. There’s no reason for me to be scared at all.” That’s just something that you don’t always get with festivals. Festivals are great, because you meet a lot of people for the first time, whereas in these intimate venues, you can have people singing with you, and so it feels very special for that reason.
Izzy: Despite not having done a ton of touring yet, you have played some pretty massive gigs at some pretty major festivals. What would you consider to be some of your favorite experiences you’ve had performing thus far?
Valencia: You’re right in saying that most of my shows have been festivals and — because I’m still a new artist, I’m a baby — I love whenever I’m singing a song and I can see that there’s like five people in the front who know who I am. It’s so special, because I just get to look at them and focus in on them. That’s definitely so fun! I love it!
Izzy: I know that you have a background in musical theatre, so I’m curious if there are any performers or even performances that you consider to be especially inspiring or influential to you?
Valencia: I think that what my background in musical theatre has given me is the confidence and ability to express myself — quite literally and vocally — differently, like creating characters. I was running through my setlist earlier, and I was singing one of my songs and imagining that I was like an old witch telling a tale. That’s something that musical theatre has definitely encouraged me to do. But my favorite show is Shrek the Musical… I love it so much! Because it’s just a freak show, and that’s what I’m trying to give and that’s what I relate to! Like, I am a freak!
Izzy: Considering that your musical career is still relatively new, what have been some of the highlights so far?
Valencia: I think that the coolest bit has been to finally feel what puzzle pieces of my team have been fully put together, like the infinity stones [laughs]. At the start of my career, I got told, “You’re gonna find your people, yadda, yadda, yadda…” and that takes time. Hearing that, you’re like, “Oh my god! How long do I have to wait until I find my people?” So just feeling really loved and supported by everyone on my team is great.
Also, I’ve been getting a lot of comments from people saying that I’m weird and that they love it, that they’re weird, too, and, “I found someone that matches my freak!” It’s really interesting and really awesome to be putting myself out there in such a quirky and weird way, but be received with so much love. I feel as if I’ve found my community of people… I didn’t realize there were so many me-s out there! I’m just like, “Damn!” I’m surprised! I got bullied when I was a kid for being weird! Ya know? And now I’m being like honored for it, and it’s just spectacular once you realize that it’s the freaks and geeks who are actually cool.
Izzy: I was gonna ask if you’ve noticed any patterns amongst your biggest fans! What kinds of people are you expecting, or just hoping, to come out to these shows?
Valencia: That’s so fun because I’ve noticed that every single artist has a different demographic and fanbase, so I’ve been curious as to what my fanbase is! And, as expected, it’s the shes and the theys and the gays, all the alt people, everyone with tattoos, piercings, who dress up and wear makeup and perform to themselves in front of the mirror and put on lipstick when their parents go to bed…
Izzy: You were talking about being excited to dress up both the stage and yourself… Is there anything that you’d love to see fans wear out to the shows?
Valencia: There are themes for each of the dates! But I would love if people… Oh my goodness… If I saw anyone recreate any of my outfits, or if any of them came with like my hair… Ugh! I completely would start crying on stage, actually! So, maybe don’t [laughs].
Izzy: I’ve heard that you’re working on a debut full-length, is that true?
Valencia: I actually just got told today that we were gonna start having conversations about that!
Izzy: I’ve heard that you would love to have Helena Bonham Carter narrate it…
Valencia: Yes! Let this word spread!
Izzy: What are your hopes and plans for your full-length?
Valencia: I am going to have to answer this question a little bit later because I’ve got so many ideas, but it’s not anything I can share as of right now. What I can say is that I’m an incredibly visual artist and very conceptual, so what everyone is going to expect from me is a lot of very strong visuals to match the music and to help build the visual world. To me, it’s so much more than just a melody and a lyric. When I close my eyes, I can picture it, so I always need to put it into a video. My dream would be to make little concept films. That’s definitely something that will be spoken about. In terms of any specific concepts, there’s something that I’ve been sitting on. When I did my debut EP, after I did that, I immediately was thinking about my second one, and I think that the concept that I have started developing for that I’ve stuck with, so I’m probably going to expand on that.
Izzy: Do you have any favorite debuts in your own music library that you just felt were sort of the perfect introduction to that artist?
Valencia: I love so, so many different artists and their works for different reasons, old and new. I absolutely love the world that MARINA builds. I think her storytelling and her lyricism is just so colorful. She’s so cool and can get away with saying pretty much whatever words she wants, and I really take inspiration from her. Whenever I’m feeling insecure about a lyric, I just think, “MARINA would be cool enough to pull this off, so why can’t I?”
Izzy: Finally, what’s next after these dates wrap? You mentioned the full-length, I hear there’s some more touring potentially in the works…
Valencia: I don’t actually know what I’m allowed to say and what I’m not allowed to say [laughing], but I’ve got a lot of shows coming up… I’m just so excited to keep putting out music, because as it’s getting bigger and bigger, I am able to do more and more. It’s really, really fun to expand on the Valencia Grace world. At this point in time, it’s just been me. And the “S!ut” music video, I can’t wait for people to see that because there’s other roles and other characters in it, which I’m very excited to keep bringing throughout my videos. I’m really excited for my song “Voodoo” to come out, as well. That was a very special song that I just recently wrote that the fans really loved and resonated with, so I very quickly am getting that one out for them. It’s really cool to be going back and forth with the fans, it feels very collaborative, just giving them what they want, and they’re loving it, and there’s so many things to look forward to!
*Get your tickets here.
