Tori Kelly is recovering from “a scary few days” in late July when she was reportedly hospitalized with blood clots in her legs and lungs, altering how she experienced the July 28 release of her Tori EP. But this morning’s (August 10) video for “Cut,” the second Tori single behind March’s “Missin U,” finds the powerhouse vocalist back in her element.
Uproxx lauded Tori among the best R&B offerings from last week, and “Cut” made the cut for Uproxx’s “Best New Pop Music This Week” list as well. The Courtney Phillips-directed visual cements why, as Kelly turns an otherwise routine late-night convenience store run into an enticing portal to early-2000s R&B.
Kelly has never sounded better, showing off her impeccable range. She mimics “the drum on your heart” with creative (and impressive) vocal dexterity, singing, “Baby, we caught a rhythm.” It’s impossible to listen to “Cut,” or any of Tori‘s seven tracks, without catching it.
Within a handwritten note posted on July 27 to update her fans on her condition, Kelly relayed that Tori “represents the happy place I’ve been in the last few years.” That sentiment is captured in Kelly’s infectious spirit emanating throughout the “Cut” video. Nothing — not a health scare nor a Chinese restaurant parking lot or an empty convenience store — stands in the way of Kelly’s joy.
Watch the adventurous visual above.