VÉRITÉ

Vérité’s moody electro-pop is the brainchild of singer/songwriter Kelsey Byrne, whose 2014 debut single, “Strange Enough,” became a viral hit. While growing up in New York’s Orange County, Byrne listened to ’90s alt-rock stars such as Nirvana, Green Day, the Breeders, and the Cranberries, and learned piano at an early age; she began performing live with her rock musician father while still in grade school and formed an all-girl punk covers band in middle school. She started writing her own songs at age 16, and graduated from SUNY Purchase with a Bachelor of Arts in studio composition. After graduation, she began making music as Vérité with drummer/producer Elliot Jacobson while working full-time as a waitress at the Times Square Applebee’s. Byrne released the track “Heartbeat” on YouTube in 2014, and the project’s social media following grew dramatically with that July’s “Strange Enough,” which reached number one on Hype Machine. Another single, “Weekend,” arrived that August and also appeared on the Echo EP, which was released that October. In 2015, the singles “Wasteland” and “Colors” — which was produced by MS MR’s Zach Nicita — preceded the June release of the Sentiment EP. On 2016′s single “Underdressed” and Living EP, Byrne pushed Vérité’s boundaries, working with producers including Stefan Graslund, Tim Anderson, and Peter Thomas. Later that year, Byrne’s cover of the 1975′s “Somebody Else” became another viral hit.
Early in 2017, she collaborated with Phantoms on the song “Just a Feeling,” while the “Phase Me Out” single appeared in advance of Vérité’s debut album, Somewhere in Between, which was released that June via Kobalt Music. January 2018 saw Vérité release a cover of the Sufjan Stevens ballad “John My Beloved.” The following month, she issued an EP of remixed tracks from Somewhere in Between. In 2019, she returned with new material starting with the single “Gone” in May. ~ Heather Phares