Noël Wells releases the visual to ‘Played for Keeps’

Actress, writer, filmmaker, and comedian Noël Wells has released the music video for her new single “Played for Keeps,” the opener to her highly anticipated, debut full-length album titled It’s So Nice! “Played for Keeps” was written in an afternoon while Wells happened to be Airbnbing actress Connie Britton‘s house while in Austin shooting a pilot, a fact that has very little to do with the song except for relational awe. Produced by James Jones and David Thomas Jones, “Played for Keeps” follows the release of “Sad Girl Blues,” “Sunrise” and “Star,” three album tracks praised by the likes of NYLON, Consequence of Sound, Stereogum, Paste and more. 

Directed by Tim Nackashi (OK Go, Robyn, Death Cab For Cutie), the clip was shot on the closed-off streets of Los Angeles in the wake of the LA Marathon on a GoPro with a $300 budget and a drone manned by cinematographer Kit Pennebacker (son of documentarian D.A. Pennebacker). 

“Everything about the song happened in a flash,” Wells said. “The song was written in a couple hours, a year later we recorded it in an afternoon with a few hours left in the studio with nothing to do. And the music video was spur of the moment. I had seen signs that week for the LA marathon closures and I texted Tim and said ‘I have no real plan but if I bought a GoPro would you be down to film something?’ Next thing you know, it’s Sunday and I’m running down Sunset and we’re flying drones trying to avoid cops.”