By Wal Reid

She’s hot, she’s edgy.  Villette is just back from L.A. filming her new 360° Virtual Reality video, adding, “I was there for like a week. As soon as I got there it was straight away no sleep, I just went to go check out everything there, it was really crazy.”

Villette is a young artist from Auckland, New Zealand who does it all, using at the launch of her latest single ‘Money ‘the latest VR (Virtual Reality) technology that is fast becoming the new media revolution for the music industry.

The talented Kiwi singer and producer has teamed up with long-time partner Red Bull Music released a 360 VR music video for her forthcoming single ‘Money’. Villette’s first ever immersive VR experience features a unique first-person perspective and allows viewers to dive deep into her creative world – and from what we saw at the launch, it’s pretty freaky.

She sings, produces, DJs, and writes all her own material, and, while she's only been releasing music on her SoundCloud page for less than a year, and admits she likes the tag “Alternative R&B”. 

“I’m moving more into R&B/Hip Hop – I really feel any song I do is myself, it’s just who I am at the time.”

Villette is the definition of a one-(wo)man-band. From writing, singing, producing, DJing, her music has seen her been hand-picked to open for International acts such as J-Rocc, Egyptian Lover, and most recently Aluna George to name a few, citing Michael Jackson, Bjork & Imogen Heap, some of her musical influences.

“I write about mostly ‘heartbreak’, ‘lust’ all the intense emotions that I feel, that I’ve felt - that my friends have felt. I just talk about experiences really.”

The video for Money lets viewers experience the singer’s personal and inspiring world through taking on the perspective of an ex-lover haunted by dreamlike visions of Villette. The result, an amazing 360 VR effect, that has to be seen to be believed.

“The storyline of the actual video is a guy having a dream about me and he wants to be with me, he can almost touch me but then I keep toying with him and playing with him a little bit.

“It’s about ‘manipulation’. The song is about being a Stripper and taking someone’s money. And that isn’t necessarily completely visually represented in this video, but it’s definitely about powerplay and about this Woman taking control of this situation, taking control of this Man.”

Together with award winning, digital production company Baron VR, Villette has brought the story behind Money ‘to(virtual) life in both an intimate and immersive way. The track captivates her audience through hauntingly beautiful lyrics and melody and is proof of the incredible talent of this upcoming artist. The story behind Money is a personal tale of lost love and complex emotions that manifests in a visually compelling, immersive dreamscape.

Villette performed her first Red Bull Music show in Auckland in 2016, followed by a special appearance at the Stones Throw Records 20th Anniversary Tour the same year. During Red Bull’s 30 Days in LA Festival in the same year, she performed alongside heavyweights Aluna George and Xavier Ömar and has since released her acclaimed eight track mixtape “Deep Crimson”. It hasn’t been easy but she is passionate about her music, driven to forge her mark in this world. 

“I’ve got a headline show coming up and that should be in about a month, then I go to Australia, do a little stint in L.A. and then I’m just going to be working on new music, drop some more songs. So, this is really just the beginning for me.”