VÉRITÉ - “Love you Forever” Album Review
Kelsey Byrne, professionally known as VÉRITÉ, finally released her highly anticipated third studio album “Love you Forever.” The Brooklyn based singer-songwriter has been consistently releasing music since 2014.
Since 2021, VÉRITÉ has released singles for this album creating a ton of hype revolving around the album. She describes this album as “a record about loving someone so much, you murder them and drag their body into a lake. That's the most literal interpretation of the world I built to trace the chaotic process of grief and learning to let go.”
Believe it or not, that is a great description of the chaotic story told throughout the album.
Firstly, the lyricism in this album is phenomenal. Each song tells an interesting story of love and heartbreak. But it also successfully features catchy hooks and many memorable lines.
Lines like, “I didn't wanna get married. But I could've loved you forever. I knew when we started. The end was inevitable” are quite powerful and emotional for both her and the audience.
She quite brilliantly creates a cohesive album about burying the past and attempting to move on.
Tracks like “love you forever,” “temporary,” and “I would leave you” are perfect examples of this storytelling technique.
This album as a whole is fantastic. The cohesion from track to track is quite rare for modern albums. Many artists try to create hits that may be tonally different from the rest of the album. However, VÉRITÉ is able to make catchy upbeat songs that have huge potential to be a hit without compromising the themes of the album.
The instrumentation on this album is also quite strong. It is quite unique from VÉRITÉ’s older music. Although there are still the same upbeat pop elements VÉRITÉ usually has, this album experiments more with synths and electronic beats. She also experiments with auto-tune which sounds amazing on tracks like “temporary.”
VÉRITÉ also has superb vocals on this album. She has sounded better than ever on many of these tracks. Songs like “love you forever,” “I would leave you,” and “a lucid dream” showcase her impressive range and vocal abilities.
Her falsetto is gorgeous and quite delicate, however on tracks like “i thought i was waiting” prove that she can be a powerhouse vocalist. On “by now”, the first single from this album that came out in 2021, also shows how VÉRITÉ can hold impressively long notes with her gorgeous vocals.
“by now” is a really enjoyable upbeat track that came out so long ago that it doesn’t feel like a part of the album. It is thematically a bit different than the rest of the tracks, as well as features a different vibe from the remainder of the album.
VÉRITÉ also has unbelievably gorgeous harmonies on “i would leave you.” Her vocals and the lyricism on the track is so impressive that it is a definite standout and the best non-single from the album.
“are we done yet,” “temporary” and “love you forever” are other standouts from the album that happened to all be singles. These tracks all have a ton of personality featuring impressive instrumentation. They all seem to be very personal tracks for VÉRITÉ and they also all have aspects that are new coming from the artist.
Overall, this is an impressive album since it showcases a ton of range from VÉRITÉ both vocally and lyrically. There are many standout tracks and even the worst tracks are not that bad.
There aren’t any skips on this album, especially since this album contains a beautiful cohesive story about love, loss, and restoration. This album is definitely worth checking out.
Rating: 8/10
Reviewer's Favorite Tracks: “love you forever,” “i would leave you,” and “are we done yet”
Reviewer's Least Favorite Tracks: “a lucid dream (epilogue)” and “i thought i was waiting”
Jack Freiser is a third-year telecommunications major. To contact him, email jef5614@psu.edu.
