Video: Jean Ryden Unveils New Video For 'Bittersweet'

Rising artist Jean Ryden unveils the official music video for her song “Bittersweet,” directed by Angela Ricciardi. 

“The ‘Bittersweet' video feels like a glimpse into the past, exhibiting the tropes of my story driven through memory and fantasy,” says Jean. “A visual world of things that feel enigmatic and untouchable. Allusions to the American Dream, and subsequently, the loss of it.”

The track—written and co-produced by Jean—is featured on her debut project, Parallel Universe. It's out now to critical acclaim. In celebration of the new music, Ryden will join Del Water Gap on his winter 2024 European tour, including a performance January 30 at London's Electric Ballroom and further dates in Amsterdam, Glasgow, Dublin and more. Tickets are on sale now; purchase here and see below for full routing. 

Parallel Universe also features previously shared tracks “Tired of Goodbyes,” “Butterfly Effect,” “Parallel Universe” and “Chlorine,” the latter of which marks Ryden's cinematic debut, earning praise from Consequence and Ones to Watch.  The project's overarching visual narrative was imagined by Ryden with close creative collaborators Angela Ricciardi and Silken Weinberg (Ethel Cain, Albert Hammond Jr).

Parallel Universe finds the vocalist, songwriter and producer grappling with the emotional aftermath of the tragic passing of her parents, traversing feelings of longing, loss and the overwhelming desire for a different world—a parallel universe—to take hold. Ryden explains, “I've always had this feeling that my life before everything continued on in this parallel universe, and I'm trapped in the wrong one.”

Jean Ryden began studying music at age three, when she started cello lessons as a child on Long Island. Music had long been in her family; her maternal grandparents were founding members of the Long Island Philharmonic, her grandfather on her mother's side was a session violinist who had played with Stevie Nicks and Chet Baker and her grandmother, Jean Ryden Eley, is the inspiration for her artist persona.

Ryden's Julliard-trained mother passed on the family's passion for music, instilling a two-hours-a-day practice habit in her daughter.  Ryden's early training, combined with her study of producers like Rostam, James Blake and Sufjan Stevens, and lyrical influences Elliott Smith, Regina Spektor and Mitski, inform her classic pop songwriting and meticulous production. 

JEAN RYDEN LIVE

January 29—Amsterdam, NL—Tolhuistuin*

January 30—London, U.K.—Electric Ballroom*

February 1—Manchester, U.K.—Band on the Wall*

February 3—Leeds, U.K.—Belgrave Music Hall & Canteen*

February 4—Glasgow, U.K.—SWG3 Warehouse*

February 6—Dublin, IE—The Academy*

*supporting Del Water Gap

photo credit: Angela Ricciardi and Scott Sweitzer

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