Mýa Chats With HIP President Andy Gesner About Independence, Longevity, and the Long Game
June 15, 2026
Vanessa Carlton is back, and “Animal” makes it count. Her first new music in five years and the lead single from her seventh album, Veils (produced by Dave Fridmann of MGMT and Flaming Lips, and out now), is the kind of song that rewards attention. It is a study in stoicism, predator and prey, and the animal that lives in all of us. Directed by Patrick McPheron for Interiorstate, the music video places Carlton alone in the wilderness, fragmented by fog, deciding for herself what to tame and what to let run free.
A Comeback Two Decades in the Making
This is a real comeback, the kind that only happens for artists who built something lasting the first time around. Carlton broke through at 21 with “A Thousand Miles,” earned three Grammy nominations, and by 2005 had stepped away from the major-label machine to build a deep independent catalog on her own terms.
She made her Broadway debut as Carole King, scored her first film for director Julia Stiles, and has toured alongside her mentor and close friend Stevie Nicks. This spring she stole a moment at Coachella, walking out as a surprise guest during Teddy Swims’ set to play “A Thousand Miles” for a sea of raised phones. “Animal” picks up all of that momentum and pulls it somewhere darker and more assured.
Where the “Animal” Campaign Stands
“Animal” debuted on MTV Live, putting the video in front of a national music-television audience and bringing Carlton back to the network where her story started, more than twenty years after “A Thousand Miles” first ran there.
It is also running through Promo Only, the retail pool that pipes music video into the spaces people actually move through, including retail floors, gyms, and clubs. That is broadcast and out-of-home working in tandem, reaching fans at home and meeting them where they already are.
We have been thrilled to be part of this team. “We’ve watched the support pour in for ‘Animal,'” says Andy Gesner, founder and president of HIP Video Promo. “When an artist this gifted comes back with material this strong, audiences show up. We’re excited to have Vanessa Carlton back, and just as excited about everything still ahead for this campaign.”
