VÉRITÉ is a local New York alternative-pop artist who has made a name for herself after much hard work and determination. Her interest in music was peaked as early as childhood as her father was a rock musician who introduced her to the art form. Soon after, she picked up piano and songwriting, and she even started a punk rock band in middle school. She worked her way throughout university waitressing around New York City, including at the famous “Applebee’s” at Times Square for three years.

With the money earned from restaurant tips, she was able to self-release her first single “Strange Enough” in 2014 and, to show that hard work does pay off, it reached #1 on the well-known music blog, “Hype Machine”.

The mentions and praise only began here. She has been critically acclaimed by other music media sites such as “Complex” and “Noisey”. With this outside encouragement along with her own self-motivation to keep moving forward, she released three EPs, several singles and her debut album- “Somewhere In Between”,  which she’s currently been promoting by touring around the US and Canada.

VÉRITÉ recently performed at the Music Hall of Williamsburg on September 22nd, promoting her independently released debut album. As soon as the lights dimmed, she came on stage and started with a bang, performing “When You’re Gone”, the first song off her new album, Somewhere In Between.“When You’re Gone” is a belter of a song, like many other of her tracks off the album. During the first song, she was already singing and playing her music live with intention, smoothly walking over to her deck of machines.

She of course saluted her home of New York, stating this was her favorite gig of the tour to perform for by far. The crowd was immediately entranced- yelling in support, admiration and excitement. VÉRITÉ was feeding off this energy, confidently shifting switches on her keyboard and decks to then calmly pull away to walk the stage and focus on her lyrics while looking into the crowd. It felt like we had her all of her attention and focus throughout the show- the artist stated she likes to be “present and genuine” at every performance.

Her past experiences helped shaped the sound she presents to fans today. Her musical style ranges within the electronic and alternative pop genre. When asked about her artistic development, VÉRITÉ says “It was a really natural progression into what I’m currently writing and performing. I’ve always been a songwriter attracted to great songs regardless of what specific genre I was into. My current style has been developed over time, trial and error.”

She served as executive producer on “Somewhere In Between”– and focused on keeping the themes cohesive.

“I realized that my voice and melodic style were an initial layer of cohesion for the project, which allowed me to experiment more in some of the production styles,”she said- I was hyper focused on the blend of electronic and organic elements.”

The production value behind her music notably stands out, and her soprano voice often lays over a rich background of darker musical themes. The melodies and beats are thick, detailed and heavily intertwined, acting as nice scenery behind her impressive singing voice.

“Need Nothing” has soulful undertones embedded by the awesome guitar solo which pairs nicely with VÉRITÉ’s loud belt in the chorus. Giving the initial impression of a rock anthem with its classical drum beat and guitar, “Somebody Else” also uses nice technical production for the sounds surrounding the melody. When she played it live, certain words reverbed and bounced off the walls of the venue into our ears, leaving a lasting impression.

About the lyrics of her tunes, she acknowledges, “…it’s common for people to interpret the songs as songs about romantic relationships. They are more so about my relationship with my mind and the world around me. The album was written when I was dealing with boredom, apathy and depression and pulls from a lot of that.”

When VÉRITÉ sang “Somewhere In Between” towards the end of her set, it perfectly tied in the night as the song that best represents the themes within the album and shows her impressive range that extends in both directions. She often fluctuates pitches in her music and it sounds awesome, especially live. She suddenly paused from the music and said softly into the mic that the next two songs will be her last for the night. After a slow and tense start, “Death Of Me“ began to flow from the musicians’ fingers. The band smartly coordinated to quickly grab our hearts and let go, further animating the crowd with suspense, getting them ready for the last song of the night. As the event was towards the end of their tour, VÉRITÉ took the chance to thank everyone that helped make this journey possible before finally announcing a last minute pop-up show the following night due to her tour’s success and invited her fans to RSVP. With all of that said, the trio on stage began to play “Saint,” the final song of their set.

VÉRITÉ’s status at home is obviously important to her. When asked where she started and where she wants to end up, she replied that she started off playing to four people in a dive bar in New York and has aspirations of performing at Madison Square Garden.

“I still don’t necessarily view myself as ‘successful’ as I’m constantly raising the bar. I did not see things going as well as they have gone,” she said.
The album consists of really good vocals and production and she delivered the same experience at her show in Brooklyn. The concert can be seen as a tribute to her journey, hard work and the pay off she well deserves as an independent artist continually releasing quality tracks.