Music Industry News

Fresh from the release of her debut album This Wasn’t Planned, Tāmaki Makaurau Americana/country-rock artist Greta van den Brink returns with ‘Valentina’, a dark, cinematic new single that opens the door to the next chapter of her evolving sound.

Where This Wasn’t Planned explored the messiness of growing into yourself through heartbreak, desire, chaos and self-discovery, ‘Valentina’ takes Greta’s storytelling somewhere altogether more mysterious. Set against a sunburnt border-town backdrop of tequila, secrets, gasoline and ghosts, the track plays out like a scene from a neo-Western film, following a cast of characters whose stories seem to collide over one dangerous night.

“Valentina feels like a little movie in a song,” Greta says. “I wanted it to feel hot, dusty and slightly dangerous, like you’ve walked into the middle of a story and you’re not quite sure what happened before you got there. There are all these little characters and clues, but you never get the full picture.”

Opening with “Oh it’s hot by the border, you can dance if you wanna,” ‘Valentina’ wastes no time setting the scene. Tequila is flowing, Valentina has come down from California, a lawyer is keeping secrets, and there’s blood on the wall. It’s all heat, mystery and bad decisions.

The song’s cinematic quality is no coincidence. Alongside music, Greta has built a creative career across screen and performance, training at The Actor’s Program and working across screen and stunt productions, with credits including The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, Apple TV’s Time Bandits, and both Evil Dead Rise and Evil Dead Burn. Her background in film, stunt work and performance continues to shape her songwriting, bringing a strong visual instinct to her music and allowing her to create songs that feel less like straightforward narratives and more like immersive worlds listeners can step inside.

‘Valentina’ also marks an evolution from the emotionally confessional writing of This Wasn’t Planned. Rather than placing herself directly at the centre of the story, Greta becomes the narrator, piecing together fragments of a stranger’s night and leaving enough unanswered to let the listener fill in the gaps.

The result is a track that feels both familiar and new for Greta: rooted in the Americana and country-rock influences that have shaped her sound, but pushed further into darker, cinematic territory.

Since releasing her debut single ‘Road to Hell’, which landed on the soundtrack of Netflix’s neo-Western series Territory, Greta has steadily built momentum across Aotearoa. Her music has received airplay from a variety of commercial, national, access and student radio stations, alongside media support from outlets such Rolling Stone and NZ Musician. Her debut album This Wasn’t Planned culminated in a near sold-out headline show, alongside performances including Big Fan’s third birthday and upcoming appearances at Le Currents and Matakanarama.

With ‘Valentina’, Greta van den Brink leaves the door open to a darker, more cinematic world, inviting listeners to step inside and discover what happens next.

‘Valentina’ by Greta van den Brink is out now. Listen HERE!

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