Someone finds themselves “better” with a captivating single and video

Somebody Someone, the nickname of Austin, Texas-based alt-pop singer and songwriter Aubrey Hays, remembers her first performance. It was a wintry day during a family sleigh ride when they decided to break into the Judy Garland Wizard of Oz The classic “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” convinced its immediate audience.

When they were ten years old, they performed with their family band at weddings and other gatherings in their hometown of Gulfport, Mississippi. The band even won a radio competition opening for Blake Shelton at the 2007 Crawfish Music Festival before later studying theater at Vassar College and singing in an all-female a cappella group.

After moving to Austin in 2015, they took advantage of the Johnny Mercer Foundation Songwriters Project and songwriting sessions at Sonic Ranch's residential recording studios in Tortilla, Texas, which helped expand their opportunities as writers. “What do I want to put out into the world?” they said in an earlier statement. “I want to give people a space to express themselves and learn something about themselves.”

In 2020, Hays had already warmed up with some thoughtful stories and revealed more of herself, from her debut “Isn't It Enough” to “Statue” and the more enthusiastic “I Want to See Through This” a year later, all with prefaces an even more immeasurable awakening is at hand.

The artist's latest work, “Better,” is an epistle of self-discovery, a deeper exploration of health challenges and one's gender identity. The tender piano ballad reveals the peace of finally really knowing yourself. Make me a ghost / Just someone you know / If you're looking for her / She's not looking for you / The girl is gone now / There's someone new, They sing through the insightful lyrics.

“This song came to me at a time when I didn't believe the words I was writing,” they tell American Songwriter. “I worked deep within myself and learned to feel the same compassion I felt for others, for myself. As I was writing this and watching my pen move on the page, I sat there thinking, 'Where did this come from?'”

They continue: “I am not religious, but I am spiritual. I believe in higher powers, ancestral prompts, and universal truths imparted to those willing to accept them. The music I've written since I wrote that song has all been influenced by something bigger than myself and I feel like it has something to do with working with my inner nature rather than against it.”

To capture the essence sonically, they sneaked into a studio to record vocals and piano while attending an artist program at Sonic Ranch. “I had recorded it somewhere else before, but something didn’t feel quite right,” they said. “I feel like I didn't delve into the message enough to believe it. And then, like magic, I did it. There’s something about the environment at Sonic Ranch that’s haunting in the right way – it must be on a leyline.”

A year after recording, Hays and Jacob Sciba put the finishing touches on the track at Arlyn Studios in Austin. For the video, which Somebody Someone filmed with fellow Mississippi native Wil Kelly, they sit at the piano with rainbow-splattered eyelids and ocean-blue tears dripping down their cheeks. With a dreamy background and a dance element, the video puts every word in focus –Make me a reminder / Let me go / I'll just let you down / And then I'll fade away / Into the ether, into the unknown.

“I knew I wanted to do something that brought the spirit of Austin and this song to life,” they said. “It was great to be able to include all these people I call friends.” Makeup artist Lindy Robinson brought Hays' dramatic features to life. “She brought this very special piece to life through the makeup and the flow of tears,” they added, while ballet dancer Vivien Farrell, who recently played Ophelia hamlet is shown dancing in the video.

“I was just in awe of her performance,” Hays recalls, “when I showed her my rib tattoo right after, which featured all the flowers that Ophelia mentions in her final monologue.”

The video was created after Hays received a grant from the city's Live Music Fund and was filmed at the Scottish Rite Theater in Austin. “I’m really just a theater kid at heart, so when I found out they had a full forest setting I was thrilled,” they said. “The forest was and remains my safe place. A lot of it just felt right. And I feel like we created something beautiful together.”