Noel Wells Releases Music Video For New Single, 'Played for Keeps'

Actress, writer, filmmaker and comedian Noël Wells is excited to release the music video for her new single "Played for Keeps," the opener to her highly anticipated, debut full-length album titledIt's So Nice! "Played for Keeps" was written in an afternoon while Wells happened to be Airbnbing actress Connie Britton's house while in Austin shooting a pilot, a fact that has very little to do with the song except relational awe. Produced by James Jones and David Thomas Jones, "Played for Keeps" follows the release of "Sad Girl Blues," "Sunrise" and "Star," three album tracks praised by the likes of NYLON, Consequence of Sound, Stereogum, Paste and more.

Watch the music video!

Directed by Tim Nackashi (OK Go, Robyn, Death Cab For Cutie), the clip was shot on the closed-off streets of Los Angeles in the wake of the LA Marathon on a GoPro with a $300 budget and a drone manned by cinematographer Kit Pennebacker (son of documentarian D.A. Pennebacker).

"Everything about the song happened in a flash," Wells said. "The song was written in a couple hours, a year later we recorded it in an afternoon with a few hours left in the studio with nothing to do. And the music video was spur of the moment. I had seen signs that week for the LA marathon closures and I texted Tim and said 'I have no real plan but if I bought a GoPro would you be down to film something?' Next thing you know, it's Sunday and I'm running down Sunset and we're flying drones trying to avoid cops."

Out on Friday, August 30, It's So Nice! (itssonice.net) is a dynamic debut showcase that places an emphasis on songwriting with tunes that traverse folk, pop, alt-country and psych-rock. Circling themes of loss of innocence, heartbreak, and discovering autonomy, the album reflects on modern times - a rebellious anti-political diary with an eye toward the future.

After spending a season on Saturday Night Live, appearing as Rachel on Master of None, and writing, directing, and starring in the award winning indie feature Mr. Roosevelt, Noël Wells hit a crossroads.

"I was at a classic sort of "artist figuring themselves out" emotional low in 2016. I felt pretty lost and really overwhelmed.

"That summer she began composing songs, and bought a guitar and started taking lessons so she could accompany what she was writing. "It wasn't pre-meditated, the songs sort of popped out of me, and I had to follow. I felt like they were conveying what I wanted to say better than being on Twitter yelling into a void."

From there, she took a dozen of these songs and spent the next year recording on and off in Los Angeles and Austin. Learning the recording process as she went, the songs were transformed from melancholic folk tunes with flashes of dark humor into vibrant and catchy tunes. "When I first started, I honestly thought I was just going to make an album of moody 'Sad Girl' songs," she says.Working closely with producer Chris Nelson and engineer Branden Stroup, the album and songs evolved organically through the recording process, with a focus on the songwriting as the guiding force for the sound of each song. What developed is a singular debut LP, a dynamic modern California folk rock album that draws on classic influences like the Beatles, Tom Petty, Nancy Sinatra, and The Pixies, to artists like Margo Guryan, Josephine Foster and Sibylle Baier. Wells hopes that the album will be viewed as a complete body of work.

"While the goal was to make every song worth listening to, this to me is really about the story as a whole. It's almost like each song is chapter of a book that reflects this particular time in my life that I think anyone can relate to, about navigating cultural and psychological nightmares and making something beautiful and fun out it. My dream is for people to jump in and enjoy the ride and listen all the way through."

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