Watch Valere's Video For New Single 'Lily's March'

Celebrating the bond between mother-daughter and staving off baby brain anxiety, 'Lily’s March' is a moving new ballad from Otautahi tunesmith Valere aka Shana Graham. Valere invited friends and family with daughters (and / or who are daughters themselves) to co-star in the single's uplifting "moving photoshoot" video — directed by her husband and made with support from NZ on Air Music. Featuring on Valere's forthcoming Gold Dust EP, the songwriter explained how 'Lily’s March' reflects on her own experiences and fears as a new mum, with the song's marching rhythm arising from the gentle sway of rocking her daughter Lily (who features in the clip) to sleep during the wee hours of the night...

“I wrote the song shortly after having a daughter. I was up one night trying to put my Lily to sleep (she was probably about 3 months old at the time), and I started sway-walking to the rhythm of a march, and hummed the melody. The lyrics of the chorus came soon after that, also a middle-of-the-night excursion trying to put Lily down. I started to reflect on how my Mum raised me and how I was going to raise my own daughter. I had a lot of fear of messing it up, but took solace in the fact that maybe it boiled down to loving your kid through the good and the bad.

Each filming session was quite special and organic. With kids, you never really know what you'll get, so we just went with the flow and let the poses happen. I'm pretty lucky to be surrounded by amazing wāhine who witness to this awesome vocation. My Mum and sister are in the video as well as my mother and sisters in law, and then my close mates and their Mums / Daughters. Finally, I have myself and my daughter Lily making an appearance too.The studio session with Lily and I was pretty special too - it was the first time I actually sang the song to Lily in full, and awake! I got pretty emotional there.” — Valere

'Lily's March' is out today on major streaming platforms.