It's hard to believe that VÉRITÉ only recently released her debut album, Somewhere in Between, this past summer. Kelsey Byrne, who performs as VÉRITÉ, has been making music for over a decade (in the early aughts as part of an all-girl punk cover band in middle school), and while doing so has topped streaming charts with her deliciously addictive tracks.
But no debut album — until the summer of 2017. And now, after the success of her first cover in 2014 to her debut album to her international tours, Refinery29 is exclusively premiering her evocative music video for "Saint." For "Saint," VÉRITÉ worked out of London with director Charlie Manton, with a certain vibe in mind: she wanted it to be simple, but striking.
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"Charlie and I tend to create this slightly off-kilter, and realistic environment," she tells Refinery29 of the video, admitting that there are "slight serial killer vibes." But no, this isn't inspired by Mindhunter, it's just a reflection of the dreary London landscape and the stark simplicity of the too big and too empty mansion ( think American Psycho) "It's not a serial killer video, but I wanted it to be very upfront and strong in this cooler environment." Once you see the naked mannequins floating in the pool, you'll see exactly what she means. The props in the video are sparse, but deliberate, and VÉRITÉ is eerie, but powerful. "I wrote the album in a phase of real apathy," she says, "so I think having myself be the only person in the video is my own reality. I am alone — no projections."
On the phone from California, VÉRITÉ sounds well rested ("It's raining in L.A."), and it's some much earned downtime. "This year we will be touring and will be out on tour for all of March and half of April supporting Eden," she says. "Right now I am writing and plotting my next move."
Plotting the next move seems to be a common theme for the young artist who worked as a waitress at the Applebee's in Time Square while simultaneously pursuing (and saving up for) a career as an independent artist. "It funded my career initially, but it also taught me to compartmentalize and utilize my time really well," she says. "It forced my creativity into short bursts." Those short creative bursts result in two things: songs like "Saint," which she says she wrote pretty quickly, and a lot of intensity. That constant intensity, in addition to a healthy dose of millennial apathy, is the perfect storm to create a visually captivating music video like "Saint."
Watch the exclusive premiere for VÉRITÉ's "Saint," below.