Vale Garzón debuts with 'Mi casa', a profound album where she transformed her wounds into songs that now embrace her.

A home isn't always a physical place. Sometimes it's a song. Sometimes it's a room full of photos, a bed where you cry, a perfume that smells like Mom, a notebook with pages to fill.

For Vale Garzón, a 23-year-old Colombian singer-songwriter, "Mi casa" isn't just the title of her debut album: it's an intimate reconstruction of her most sacred refuge.

Valentina Garzón, also known as Little Vale , has become recognized as a content creator with a presence on platforms such as TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, and X (Twitter).

In a calm and sincere conversation with EL TIEMPO, Vale unravels the emotional fabric behind the eight songs that make up this album, which has been two years in the making.

“It was the tool I used to understand everything I was feeling when I moved out on my own for the first time,” she confesses. And that transition to adulthood, filled with fears, questions, and searching, ended up becoming an honest, raw, and hopeful album.

It wasn't a planned process. The songs appeared without warning, but with meaning. “We never said, ‘Let's make an album.’ When we listened to the songs we already had, we said, ‘This all speaks to the same thing. Everything is connected.’”

"My House" is, therefore, a sonic exploration of what it means to feel safe. And also of what it means to rebuild after being broken. In songs like "I Will Swear," Vale bravely tells her story. "It's a promise to myself to never hurt myself again," she says.

At 14, she went through a deep depression, the scars of which still keep her cautious, but also strong.

“What I was most afraid of was getting lost again. I swear it's my reminder that I've been there before. It doesn't mean I'll come back.” Through this confession, she hopes her voice can be a companion for other girls like her . Girls who, like her, face internal battles in silence.

So, when asked what she would tell that teenager she was, her answer is resolute: "Take one step at a time." She reminds herself that it's not necessary to jump seven steps at once. That small steps also build long paths. And that asking for help isn't a sign of weakness, but of courage.

Although she shines on stage, Vale doesn't forget those around her. She thanks her team at Moon Entertainment, Latin Week, the composers who accompanied her, and Kaiser, her producer.

But she also recognizes her artist friends: Laura Pérez, Laura Maré, Juliana, and Jules, as role models and role models. “Colombia is full of talented women. I learn from them every day.”

Without competing, the artist aims for her music to feel like a conversation between friends. “I want someone to listen to a song and feel like it's me telling them something. I want them to say, 'That happens to me too.'”

The order of the songs on "Mi casa" wasn't accidental either. It has a clear narrative meaning: it begins with Hoy me pasa que, a letter to her future self, and moves into introspective territory with songs like Mi piel and La sala, where nostalgia and goodbyes become melody.

Later comes Desperté, like a ray of light, and closes with 23, a hymn to change, to starting over.

“Each song is like a wall in this house I'm building,” he explains . And if that house (the album) were a physical place, it would be his room, his space to paint, cry, write, and compose.

A refuge surrounded by nature, singing neighbors, and treasured objects in her home: a blanket, candy, a notebook, headphones, and the hugs of the people she loves.

The visual universe of "Mi Casa" was equally carefully thought out. The music videos, directed by her sister, influencer Poché, were filmed in a customizable gray studio, almost like a blank canvas.

Each one recreates a space in the home: the bed, the living room, the bedroom. In 23, all the objects from the previous videos appear together, then fade away, like symbols of moving, of evolution . “It's like arriving in a new place, finding a new Vale.”

The moments she remembers most fondly aren't just the creative ones, but the moments of revelation: when the album's name came to her, when she cried while dancing in the videos, when she felt like she was fulfilling a childhood dream. "Doing something I love with people I love is a gift."

And although the album is just beginning, Vale is already thinking about what's next. She doesn't have all the answers. "I told my team: What do we do now? I'm scared." But she knows the next step is to sing the songs live. And share that sound with other hearts.

To the Vale of the future, the one who will one day read this article again, I leave you with a wish : may she never stop enjoying the journey. May each step, however small, acknowledge that it is part of something beautiful.

Because, as she herself sings, a home isn't always a place. Sometimes, it's a song that becomes a refuge.

ANGELA MARÍA PÁEZ RODRÍGUEZ - EL TIEMPO JOURNALISM SCHOOL.