Bella Valdes is opening the door to a new chapter with her return to music. Fresh off her breakout role as Cha Cha in FX’s The Shards and following her recent NYU Tisch graduation, the Miami-born performer is now turning the focus back to music with “Playing Pretend,” the first single from her forthcoming EP, Siren Songs.
Released August 15, “Playing Pretend” introduces a side of Valdes that has been developing alongside her work in acting and dance since adolescence. The house-pop track explores fantasy, ambition, heartbreak and the sacrifices that come with pursuing a life in the arts, while its dance-driven visual turns those ideas into a coming-of-age story about moving from dreaming of becoming a star to finally stepping into that identity.
For Bella, the song is also deeply connected to the person she was before audiences knew her. She began writing lyrics at 14, using a journal to channel the emotions and stories that came with growing up, before buying her first guitar at 17 while attending college in New York. Nights in her dorm were spent working through chords and singing along to artists such as Phoebe Bridgers and Mitski, eventually leading her toward NYU Tisch’s musical theatre program, where she met future bandmates and began developing her own songs.
That path was anything but linear. After performing at Birdland in Midtown Manhattan, Bella Valdes collaborated with Miami songwriter and producer Sebas De Varona on tracks including “Rather Be Lonely,” “Burnouts” and “Cigs” in 2024. Her first concert at Bowery Electric followed that year, while producer Aleksei Lazic later heard her voice and invited her to perform on his debut track, “Playing Pretend.”
The single now serves as the doorway into a larger project. Bella describes Siren Songs as an exploration of transforming pain into personal power, moving from yearning toward acceptance and empowerment through a sound influenced by 1970s and 1990s rock. Across the EP, she moves from the hard yacht-rock feel of “Siren Song” to the cinematic optimism of “Up & Up,” the Paramore and Alanis Morissette influence of “Fix Me,” and the more industry-focused “Second.”
Its visual language is just as personal. Inspired by Flashdance and A Chorus Line, the “Playing Pretend” video incorporates Valdes’ history as a dancer, including the studio where she has trained since she was 3 years old. Her choreography draws from the 1970s and ’80s jazz techniques she learned growing up, while the mirrors, sweat and physical intensity reflect the discipline that shaped her approach to performance.
A particularly meaningful connection comes from her time playing Cassie in A Chorus Line during her senior year at NYU. After spraining her ankle during rehearsals, Valdes returned to perform the role three weeks later despite being advised by doctors and professors not to do so. Those experiences, she says, became part of the emotional foundation of “Playing Pretend”: moments that hurt, physically or emotionally, but ultimately made her stronger.
That same transformation is now playing out across her screen work. Bella Valdes stars as Cha Cha in The Shards, the new FX series that premiered August 5, while her short film Shuga Mango, exploring Cuban American life in Miami, premiered at Greenpoint Film Festival on August 7. Her credits also include Law & Order: SVU and the stage production of American Psycho, with her latest acting work connecting her to Ryan Murphy and Bret Easton Ellis.
Cha Cha, in particular, has influenced the person Valdes is bringing into this musical chapter. She describes the character as her “evil twin,” someone who has given her permission to embrace herself with greater confidence and stop worrying about how others perceive her.
In her conversation with InMusic, Bella Valdes opens up about her Miami roots, the artists who shaped her sound, the connection between dance and songwriting, the personal stories behind “Playing Pretend,” and the experiences that transformed her from a teenager writing lyrics in a journal into an emerging singer-songwriter with a growing body of work.
She also discusses balancing acting, dance and music, the lessons she has taken from Cha Cha, her plans for additional music videos, and the collaborators she hopes to work with as her career continues to expand. Keep reading for the full InMusic interview with Bella Valdes.
What is your musical genre?
I’ve bounced around in the Pop Genre as my mother Lady Gaga did so elegantly. I would say I resonate most with Rock/Pop Alternative music.
How would you describe your music?
Vocally, I blend my icons, Miley and Gaga, lyrically, I’m inspired by Stevie Nicks and Patti Smith, and sonically, my music intertwines between Fleetwood Mac, Alanis Morisette, Paramore, and U2.
Could you elaborate on your musical journey and the path that led you to where you are today?
I always sang songs off the top of my head and had an active imagination. When I got my first journal, I started writing lyrics at 14 so I didn’t have to bore my friends with the same stories and dramas. Love and yearning pushed me to start writing poetry. When I was 17, a college freshman in NYC, I bought my first guitar and spent my nights in my dorm messing around with chords, singing along to sad girls like Phoebe Bridgers and Mitski. At my university, NYU Tisch I auditioned for the musical theatre program my junior year where I transferred and met some great friends that turned into bandmates. I would nag them to practice with me and I would send my songs to Thomas, our guitarist who would help me flesh them out more. I sang at Birdland in midtown with my friend Aviva and gained more confidence over my own artistic voice. In 2024, I collaborated on a few songs in my hometown with Sebas De Varona, “Rather Be Lonely”, my personal favorite “Burnouts” and “Cigs”. This led to my first concert at the Bowery Electric in NYC 2024. My now producer Aleksei Lazic heard by voice through these songs and asked me to sing his debut track “Playing Pretend”. By the time I graduated, I knew I would be ready to record my EP produced by Aleksei, with the help of ‘The Mall Cut’ (my bandmates ‘ emerging name), and those songs I had long been performing live. So much of this journey has not been linear but every bump in the road, win, and experience has led me here and I cant wait to share it with you.
You’ve built your career across acting, dance, and now music. Do you see them as separate creative outlets, or do they all stem from the same desire to tell stories?
My desires lead back to challenging myself and leveling up my own consciousness and that of those around me. I hope the stories I tell help others empathize and understand people more than they might expect.
Dance has clearly played a major role in your life. How has your background as a dancer shaped the way you approach songwriting and performing as a singer?
Dance gave me discipline unlike any other artform. Being on time, knowing my part, being part of an ensemble and holding myself accountable as the only one in charge of me. As a songwriter, I feel music with my body. As a performer, dance has shaped me unlike any other medium. It’s given me a certain confidence in who I am and my stage presence.
Can you tell us about your new single “Playing Pretend”?
The music video is my coming-of-age story in a visual nutshell, representing the transition from innocence and yearning to becoming the woman I have longed to be. Dancing’s physical grit and passion, inspired by “Flashdance” and “A Chorus Line,” wrapped in a glittery-pink bow; touching on the emotional nuances of the “party”, it’s breaking free from limitations we box ourselves into and serves as a question: Where in your life are you playing pretend, and why? For the performance of it all? For the party? Because you are chasing your dreams or the ones others have put on you?
The song marks the beginning of a new musical chapter for you. What made this the right song to introduce listeners to this era?
The dances were filmed in the studio where I’ve danced since I was 3 years old, “Dance Empire of Miami” and the video shows me surrounded by women and those who believe in me when I do my vulnerable work. I feel like this piece is a perfect storm revealing my youth and coming-of-age story as an artist, and “Siren Songs” represents my self-autonomy; coming into my womanhood through the lessons learned in my adolescence and college years. It captures being 18 in New York, walking the streets with headphones, waiting for the train without music, crying on the L, journaling in my bedroom, staring out at the ocean at home, and praying in the rain all at once. Playing Pretend introduces people to “Bella,” and ‘Siren Songs’ dives deeper into who I really am.
The song explores ambition, fantasy, and the sacrifices that come with pursuing a creative career. Were there any personal experiences that directly inspired its lyrics?
Aleksei, my producer, had written “Playing Pretend” and I put my own narrative through my voice and the music video. I drew influence from moments in my teenage life in my room manifesting in my journal and dreaming about being a star myself. I had a pink wig I used to post with on a secret Tik Tok account when I was 17 and this video captures much of that messiness in a glamorized way.
“Playing Pretend” arrived alongside a music video inspired by Flashdance and A Chorus Line. What do those stories represent to you, and how did they influence the visual narrative?
The “Flashdance” audition scene music video is imprinted on my memory and influenced so much of my dancing growing up. I auditioned for the musical theatre program in college with an improv to the song “What a Feeling”. One of my favorite parts about my dance training as a child was the 70s/80s Jazz techniques and warm ups that influenced the way I like to move. I love the sweat, the passion, the mirrors full of condensation. In my senior year of college, I played Cassie in “A Chorus Line”. In the middle of our rehearsal process, I sprained my ankle and still performed Cassie 3 weeks later. Against all odds I made it happen- as I believe Cassie would. Looking back, every professor and doctor told me not to perform- my future was more important than a college show… but I think for me it was more about the principle of finishing something I started. “Playing Pretend” used many moments in my life that hurt me either emotionally or physically, yet made me stronger. These stories represent my growth, my passion, and finding the silver lining through the unfair realities of life.
“Playing Pretend” also offers the first glimpse into your upcoming EP. What can listeners expect from the project, and how does the song introduce the broader creative vision and themes you’re exploring?
I’m exploring the channeling and transmutation of pain to personal power. Transitioning from yearning to acceptance and empowerment. Listeners can expect a range of emotion and sounds in a similar vein of music to 70s/90s Rock. Starting with ‘Siren Song’’ which feels like hard yacht rock, to “Up & Up” which is giving protagonist ‘its all gonna be okay’ movie montage with the boys. ‘Fix Me’ is Paramore/Alanis Morissette inspired, and the EP ends with ‘Second’, discussing the validation of the Hollywood through the disguise of lyrics about a ‘man’.
Audiences are currently discovering you as Cha Cha in The Shards. How has stepping into that character influenced the confidence you’re bringing to this new music era?
Cha Cha is my evil twin that has allowed me to embrace myself with more radical love and acceptance. She doesn’t care what people think because she knows who she is and wants what she wants. She’s given me the freedom and permission to bring more of that forward thinking into my own life and helped me apply that to my music and art.
With The Shards gaining momentum and your debut EP on the horizon, what do you hope people understand about Bella Valdes after experiencing both your acting and your music?
This is my first time releasing so much of myself to the public. I hope people feel how much passion, energy, and love I put into everything I do. It is all so authentically me and I couldn’t be more proud of who I am at this moment. I am embracing everything life has to throw at me right now. I am ready to accept every blessing that aligns with my highest good.
Is there anything else you would like people to know
I am making more music videos for “La Tirana” and the other songs in my EP. I am so grateful for all the magic that has unfolded in my life in such a short amount of time and a day never goes by that I don’t thank God for that. It’s crazy to think just a year ago I had booked my first role in American Psycho on stage and now I just wrapped another BRET EASTON ELLIS work with RYAN MURPHY! Even saying those two names as people I have been in their orbit feels so surreal. I’m so honored and privileged to do what I love and I cannot wait to tell more stories and collaborate on music/movies with artists that I look up to and admire.
Credits
Miami Photoshoot
Photographer: Annabella Iurman (@iurmanmedia)
Stylist/Creative Director: Isabella Anta (@isabellaanta)
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