Some debut albums arrive politely. Valley Boy’s does not. Out today, Children of Divorce is a 13-track concept record (yes, purposefully unlucky) from James Alan Ghaleb Amaradio — the LA songwriter who’s quietly spent the last several years writing and producing for the likes of Sabrina Carpenter, Troye Sivan, and Dua Lipa. Now he’s turning the pen on himself, and the result is one of the most disarmingly honest singer-songwriter records of 2026.

The premise is right there in the title. Valley Boy became a “child of divorce” at age twelve, when his father abruptly left the family, and the album traces the long aftershocks of that moment through vignettes about the real people who shaped him: Ian the childhood best friend, Diana the first girlfriend, Alicia the love that kept coming back, Mona the mother, and Evan, the kid who didn’t make it. It’s specific, occasionally darkly funny, and frequently devastating.

Opener “James, age twelve” sets the tone — a fragile acoustic note-to-self sung from the perspective of his shell-shocked younger self, with an intentionally rudimentary melody that mirrors the freeze response of sudden trauma. Valley Boy co-directed the accompanying official video with his wife Delacey, leaning into the recurring “COD” fish motif that runs through the album’s visual world.

From there, the record stretches in every direction. “One year of uninterrupted hives” pulls in Valley Boy’s Egyptian roots and cascades in like a call to prayer, recounting the year his nervous system literally broke out in hives after watching his newly homeless father sneak back into the house to wash up. “Embarrassingly into the void” recalls being asked to sing Al Green’s “Let’s Stay Together” at his father’s second wedding — written, cheekily, in the same key as the original. “Unicorn” is a furious, desperate song for the survivor who somehow walked out unscathed. And closer “tell the Kids the truth” lands on something like grace: the realization that parents are kids too, and that inherited patterns don’t have to be destiny.

“I’m relinquishing the idea that this can ever be a comprehensive or perfect album,” Valley Boy says. “I’m looking at it as the beginning of a conversation.”

Critics are already on board. KCRW called the project “a statement piece” that “invites you to open up, strip down, and get raw.” The Luna Collective described it as “an introspective, often darkly humorous project that explores the long and complicated tail of childhood trauma and the odd comfort of shared scars.” Petty Magazine, Ones To Watch, and Blurred Culture have all weighed in with equally glowing notices, and Zane Lowe and BMI’s Indie Spotlight have championed the singles leading up to release.

Stream Children of Divorce on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/valleyboy

LA fans get a proper sendoff: Valley Boy will celebrate the album with a hometown show at The Moroccan Lounge on June 3. Tickets are on sale now. If the record is any indication, it’s going to be the kind of night where the room gets very quiet between songs — in the best possible way.

Press the play button, pour something strong, and let Valley Boy do the talking.