Watch V.V. Lightbody’s New Video for “Baby, Honestly”

V.V. Lightbody (aka Vivian McConnell) is a fixture of the Chicago music scene, having played with—or in—a slew of the area’s up-and-coming bands that includes Lala Lala, whom she joined on guitar for their recent tour with Death Cab for Cutie and will join for their upcoming dates with Twin Peaks. McConnell’s also got connections to Santah, Grandkids, Accessory (Jason Balla of Dehd and NE-HI), Slow Mass and Rose Hotel, but there’s more reason to keep her on your radar than the company she keeps. Her dreamy, bossa nova-inspired sound is sweet and arresting, with our May 2019 Daily Dose pick “Baby, Honestly” serving as a perfect example. If you missed it then, it’s the perfect time to give “Baby, Honestly” a spin: The “biting, lush and charming” single now has a visual accompaniment.

McConnell calls “Baby, Honestly” her ”‘snake-in-the-grass’ song that explores what sinning feels like as a chronic people pleaser”: “I wrote it at a time where I didn’t want to do what people expected of me anymore,” she says. “Putting myself before others felt like the first ‘sin,’ followed by stretching the truth and admitting that I was bored by a lover’s interests. ‘Baby, Honestly’ is appropriately two faced: biting lyrics hidden beneath a lush and charming soundscape.”

The “Baby, Honestly” video, directed and edited by Alex W. Babbitt, takes McConnell’s snake reference and runs with it—ophidiophobes need not apply. McConnell herself appears sparingly, always at least partially hidden behind bright-green leaves, mysterious and inaccessible.

Check out the “Baby, Honestly” video below, along with V.V. Lightbody’s 2018 Daytrotter session.