Emotions are running high at the start of “Naked,” the new video from indie-pop’s Natalie Shay. The visual, premiering here on HollywoodLife, starts with a red car pulling up onto a beach at night. Out steps Natalie, and she’s not dressed for a midnight dip. Instead, she’s clad in a lovely wedding dress, but she’s in no mood to say “I Do.” Channeling the spirit of Julia Roberts circa 1999, Natalie runs down the beach as we glimpse flashbacks into how she got to this point, and the moment when “I do” turned into “I can’t.”
“Oh my God, we’ll try it again ’til we make it,” she sings on the chorus. “It feels so wrong, is it so hard just to fake it? / Don’t get me wrong, sleeping alone feels so naked / And oh my God, bae you are the best thing for breaking.” “Naked” showcases a deft hand when it comes to songwriting, and Natalie captures the complexities of love, especially when you find something that feels too good to be true.
“The video for ‘Naked’ fits around the theme of the song – fear of commitment,” Natalie shared with HollywoodLife. “The visual narrates this lyric in a simple yet cinematic way with the idea of running away from a marriage. It’s the kind of video I think people should watch twice; The first time, so you can feel the gratification of the ending falling into place. And the second, to see how this pans out with what you now know”
Hailing from North London, Natalie has been building a buzz in the indie-pop world for a few years now. Classically trained at guitar when she was 5-years-old, Natalie’s talents led her to being accepted into the BRIT school, which has produced such talents like Adele and Jesse J. While honing her chops in her local scene, Natalie won London’s Gigs Big Busk in 2012 and 2014. In between those victories, she picked up the Open Mic UK award in 2013. She also won The Guardian’s Future 8 Award and the “Best Undiscovered Talent” London Music Award.
“Naked” is the title track to the EP Natalie released earlier in 2020. Along with “Naked,” Naked contains “People Like Me,” “Owe It To You,” and “Not The Girl.” With 2021 just around the corner, so is the promise of more new music from this rising talent.