The Secret Storm (Lauren Hoffman) Debuts Haunting New Video on Elmore Magazine!

After 6 years, Virginia's own Lauren Hoffman has returned to music under the new musical nom de plume The Secret Storm, and in support of new track "In The Sun" comes a hauntingly provocative music video, premiered today via Elmore.

The clip, featuring stunning visual lighting effects and starring Hoffman as the captive of a ghostly lover, is an unnerving mystery. Its provocative setting and distant sensuality are the backdrop Hoffman's lingering lyrics "So bright, so right, the way you shine, it burns me from the inside." The song is equal parts celebration and warning, a treatise on the inner battle between desire and rationality. "It's definitely about feelings you can't control," Hoffman explains. "Which is actually true of all feelings. We like to think we are in control, but maybe we never actually are."

First signed to Virgin Records back in 1997, Hoffman has gone on to release four full-length albums of knotty indie-pop before deciding to shift gears entirely and ultimately redefine herself as The Secret Storm. Recorded at Sound of Music studios with longtime co-producer John Morand, the new songs bear a kinship to Hoffman's atmospheric 2006 effort, Choreography.

The Secret Storm will be an ongoing project in which songs are rolled out in small batches, each accompanied by their own specific visuals. With her new project, Lauren seems to have found the freedom to write and record of her own volition, to celebrate her own wily set of influences "I probably have more in common with goths than other singer/songwriters," she says, "My favorite band is The Cure." For Hoffman, The Secret Storm represents a full-circle creative moment. By creating a project outside of her own name, she has created the kind of musical vehicle capable of channeling and containing all of her influences: from gloomy post-punk to buzzing grunge era alt-rock to quiet, acoustic-driven folk.