I’d like you to join me and celebrate an incredibly unique artist. The Swiss-Italian singer-songwriter Veronica Fusaro is one of the most arresting and viscerally brilliant new voices on the European scene, mixing a primal intensity of indie-pop with the timeless power of rock and soul. From Thun, Switzerland, Veronica was already identifying the extraordinary strength of music as a child, an outlet to transform intense feelings of fragility into a powerful force of nature. On the 27th of March, Veronica released the stunning music video of her song, “Alice,” which truly immerses the viewer in a visually and emotionally cinematic landscape. So let’s take a peek into this truly bewitching musical offering.

The video opens with an altar shot. The video shows a spectacular, traditional wedding set (it was shot at St. Charles Hall), and we watch as Alice (the bride, played by Anja Andersen) walks down the aisle to her waiting groom (Andreas Gaida). We also catch sight of the artist singing as we watch Alice walk up to her waiting groom. As Alice walks towards the alter she is seen tripping, even though her dress is not that long. To the audience, the viewer sees a minor trip on the dress. If we analyze the camera shot, the camera is filming the groom, who is rudely tugging Alice’s arm towards him with a forceful hand and hand movement, forcing her to assume the position. Veronica lets listeners and viewers know that she’s been watching Alice and has something to tell her. The camera pans off of the couple to show Veronica Fusaro standing among the wedding band and guests, and she stares at Alice without blinking with an intense and staring glare. Veronica is singing the lyrics directly to Alice. She keeps singing and staring at Alice when her husband toasts, then the scene shifts to a montage of the bride, her family, and the bridal party taking wedding photos. A quick mid shot and, without hesitation or thought, the groom dismissively and cruelly shoves past Alice to speak to the photographer, effectively knocking her completely out of the frame without a second’s thought. Alice quickly covers her mortification with a nervous, rehearsed smile. Throughout the proceedings, Veronica has been consistently present, singing off the side of the frame, serving as a ghost and an all-seeing observer, acutely aware of and observing every micro-aggression to which the wedding guests are otherwise oblivious. Veronica is also confirming her love for Alice. At the reception, the cake cutting happens; the groom aggressively smothers a huge blob of frosting directly into Alice’s face. Cut to a wedding party doubled over in uncontrollable, raucous laughter at what they see as just a silly, playful wedding prank. The shot slowly pushes in to her face as the laughter around her fades to a dull hum, and she becomes numb and terrified. It is obvious Alice is hiding something; as her husband dances with her at this point, he switches partners, and she is now dancing with Veronica. During a song, just as the bombastic electric guitar solo comes in, the tension rises. The frame alternates rapidly from the frantic, drunken festivity of the guests at the reception to Veronica’s pained performance. The wedding ends with Veronica going out to Alice at the end of the wedding reception as Alice rests her head on her shoulder, indicating that someone sees her truly.

Lyrically and visually, “Alice” is a horrifyingly complex study of domestic violence, coercive control, and voicelessness. The brilliance of the song, though, lies in the deliberate ambiguity of its complex duality: Alice is not given a single word; she is utterly stripped of her voice. The words are sung by an obsessive/possessive entity (“I live in your head… Why you looking so stressed, just let me talk to you”), an utterly convincing portrait of how perpetrators hide their controlling actions as “love” and “protection.” Visually, the video perfectly represents how society addresses domestic abuse. The groom’s harmful acts, such as the rough pulling, the treatment of Alice like an object, and the humiliating cake stunt, are micro-aggressions that are overlooked as acceptable or humorous by the guests; the music video is a stark illustration of how easily abuse can go unnoticed from the outside, and how victims have to “smile it away.” Adding a unique, ambiguous level is the music video. Is Veronica a physical stalker imposing her twisted fantasies onto a miserable bride? Or is she truly the ideal, observant friend-the one person who genuinely notices Alice’s suffering, and gives her a fantasized escape? The fact that there are so many possibilities leaves the observer contemplating the nature of obsession, possession, and real protection.

A rare, almost sacred kind of alchemy is unleashed when an artist finally conquers the stage, a process Veronica Fusaro has been working at in quiet confidence over the past few years. A live performance of Fusaro’s is not merely a concert; it’s an entrance into a world she controls with an ease and majesty born from over 500 shows all around the globe, from smoke-filled, cramped clubs where you’re packed in like sardines, to the holy soil of Glastonbury, and to the hallowed ground of the Montreux Jazz Festival. She’s graced stages and supported artists like Mark Knopfler in the legendary amphitheater of Nimes, never feeling like support at all- once she steps out into the lights, she owns the entire building. Fusaro’s live performance radiates a kind of star-powered, otherworldly glow that is absolutely impossible to tear yourself away from; she manages to be utterly epic and soul-shatteringly intimate in the very same moment. She sings out to the back rows, but sings to each individual in the audience as though she’s singing directly at you. The palpable intensity and passion of the performance, the incredible ease with which she can close a chasm between herself and the room around her, makes watching her live less of a performance, and more of a gathering of human beings sharing an experience, and it’s evident to anyone who has been a part of that journey since the very beginning, that Veronica Fusaro doesn’t merely play on stage- she lives on stage, and will forever be one of the most powerful live performers of our time.

Seriously, a masterclass on blending visual narrative and sonic intention; it’s breathtaking the way it shifts from the insistent waltz to the sheer primal force of the guitar solo, particularly juxtaposed against the dark, grief-ridden on-screen storyline. The weight that she imbues in “Alice” is why her artistry is so impactful. Collaborating with such a creative force like Veronica would truly be the dream-it takes so much artistry and emotional courage to embody and hold that space. Here is to more collaborations and whatever magic the two of us will create next; it is sure to be sensational.

Stream “Alice” on Spotify 

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