‘new skin’ marks new era for ‘VÉRITÉ’

Courtesy of Vanyaland

Kelsey Byrne, professionally known as VÉRITÉ, is best known for songs like her cover of The 1975’s “Somebody Else,” as well as “Underdressed,” “When You’re Gone” and “Nothing.” 

Her last solo music release was December 2018’s “Bunker Studio Sessions, Brooklyn, NY.” It comprised orchestral performances of songs from her debut studio album, “Somewhere in Between.” Since the release of her debut album, she has also been featured on other artists’ songs like Matt Maeson’s “Tribulation” and Pell’s “Show Me.”

In April 2019, VÉRITÉ started vaguely hinting at new music on her Instagram account. During the months of April and May, she often captioned her photos with snippets of her second album’s first single, “gone.” That single was later released on Friday, May 31. In an Instagram post a couple days before the song’s release, she said that “gone is a beginning and an end.”

The Chronicle had the opportunity to interview VÉRITÉ through email. When asked if the song was a metaphor for her next era in music, she said, “It’s a metaphor for the record as a whole and the new musical chapter. ‘New skin’ is a cycle. The end loops back to the beginning and I think that love and relationships work that way as well. Gone is an end and a beginning.” 

Before the release of the album’s second single, VÉRITÉ announced that she would start touring again. On Thursday, July 11, she announced an acoustic show where she would perform some songs from the new album. Her second single, “youth,” was released on Friday, July 19. When it was released, she said in an Instagram post, “This song breaks my heart a little. I hope it breaks yours too (in a good way).” The song is about wasting time, specifically youth, on a person. After this single’s release, VÉRITÉ announced a few headlining shows and that she would be supporting the band X Ambassadors on their fall tour. 

The album’s third single, called “ocean,” was released on Tuesday, July 16. The song is about losing yourself in someone to the point where you are a different person. After the song’s release, VÉRITÉ revealed that her second record, called “new skin,” would be released on Friday, Oct. 25. For marketing purposes, if someone were to pre-save “new skin,” they would gain access to VÉRITÉ’s new cell phone number. With access to this number, fans would be able to communicate one-on-one with VÉRITÉ and get early glimpses of her new music. Later, she publicly released the cell phone number on her Instagram account.  

“When I was writing ‘new skin,’ I honestly didn’t have this grand inspiration or plan for what I was writing. It was me putting one foot in front of the other. Now that I’m finished with the record, I see it’s about being in the middle of a cycle. It’s not such a dissimilar sentiment from ‘Somewhere in Between,’ but ‘new skin’ is much more nuanced.” 

After writing and finishing the album, she acknowledged the fact that she is a different person. 

“I feel like I’m constantly changing, which is positive and negative,” she said. “Change is uncomfortable as fuck, but I always want to be moving forward.” 

The most recent two singles from “new skin” were “good for it” and “think of me.” The song “good for it” was released on Friday, Sept. 13, and carries a theme of second-guessing oneself. “Think of me,” released on Friday, Oct. 18, is about being in a relationship in which the other person is cheating and may remind listeners of Alanis Morissette’s “You Oughta Know.” 

The remaining songs on the album include “new skin,” “body in my bed,” “faded,” “medicine” and “amnesia,” as well as an instrumental interlude. These other songs show how VÉRITÉ has grown in her music and in life. 

Her second album, “new skin,” can be streamed on Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon. It can also be bought on vinyl.