Tag: Miguel Do You Like

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Phoebe Ryan’s Lysergic and Animated Visual for Shimmering Pop Confection “Reality”

Phoebe Ryan is an acclaimed Texas-born, New Jersey-based singer/songwriter andNYU Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music grad. Upon graduation, Ryan headed out to Los Angeles, where she landed work as a songwriter, writing songs for a number of artists, eventually writing Britney Spears’ “Man on the Moon.” 

With the release of sultry and attention-grabbing  mashup of R. Kelly’s “Ignition” and Miguel’s “Do You Like,” the Texas-born, New Jersey-based singer/songwriter exploded into the national scene, eventually signing with Columbia Records, who her first two EPs — 2015’s Mine and 2017’s James. Ultimately, Ryan felt at her best, guiding her own creative vision and returned to independent status, so that she could do things her way.

Last year, Ryan released two singles “ICIMY (In Case I Miss You)” and “Ring,” and opened for with pop sensation Carly Rae Jepsen. And continuing on that momentum, Ryan will be releasing her long-awaited full-length debut How It Used to Feel on June 26, 2020. The album’s third and latest single is the woozy and kaleidoscopic, pop confection “Fantasy.” Inspired by the production on The Flaming Lips’ 2006 effort At War With The Mystics, the track which features shimmering and twinkling synth arpeggios, tweeter and woofer rocking low end and shuffling beats, will remind the listener of Ryan’s unerring ability to craft an infectious, radio friendly hook. But underneath the slick, modern production is some earnest songwriting. “‘Reality’ is about a time in my life where I was very dishonest with myself, trusting people who shouldn’t be trusted, and basically just living a lie because it was far less painful than the truth. I love the lyrics, they’re all straight from my dumb little heart, but I think the production of the song is what really hits me. It’s so upbeat and psychedelic, anthemic, bright, yet sorrowful.”

Directed and animated by Richie Brown, the recently released video for “Reality” is a wild, technicolor video is a lysergic journey through a cartoon Phoebe Ryan’s fantasies of bulging and pulsating bodies, fortune tellers and intergalactic travel — seen from the perspective of her pet parrot, who at times seems kind of confused at everything going on. “This is one of the most exciting videos we’ve gotten together for the album,” the Texas-born, New Jersey-based artist explains in press notes. “It’s exotic. It’s erotic. It’s everything I see in my head when I go to sleep at night. Collaborating with Richie Brown was such a fun experience, not only because I’ve been a fan of his work for years (the first video I saw of his was Brick + Mortar’s “Old Boy” in 2014), but because it’s honestly hilarious being able to text someone so open to the weirdest ideas at all hours of the day and night. Crocs? Obama? BDSM? He’s a genius. I love his wild visions.”

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Phoebe Ryan’s Modern, Feminist Anthem “Dollar Bill”

With the early 2015 release of a trippy, post-modern mashup/cover of of R. Kelly’s “Ignition” and Miguel’s “Do You Like,” followed the release of by her highly-anticipated full-length debut effort, Mine, Texas-born, New Jersey-reared and Los Angeles-based pop artist Phoebe Ryan exploded both across the blogosphere and nationally — and throughout the past year, Ryan has developed a reputation for a breathily coquettish vocal style, emotionally and sexually frank lyrics paired around infectiously catchy hooks and slickly contemporary electronic productions. Her latest single “Dollar Bill,” is a collaboration with Kid Ink and it will likely further cement her attention for infectiously catchy and coquettish pop while the song thematically focuses on the big dreams and the life of constant hustle that many artists have but just underneath the surface is a feminist anthem similar to Eurythmics and Aretha Franklin’s “Sisters Are Doin’ It For Themselves,” says — that a woman can clearly have dreams of taking over the world and picturing her own face on a dollar bill, just like the dudes.

Uncategorized by William Ruben Helms

2015 may arguably be among the biggest years for women artists in recent memory – especially for up-and-coming artists. In the past few months, young artists such as Chelsea Lankes have caught the attention of […]