Suzanne Sheer Pulls Her Own Strings in the Video for “Hell & Back”

The Philadelphia songwriter plays both puppet and puppeteer in the turning point of her new album VOICES.

“Hell & Back,” directed by Emmy-winning filmmaker Simone Holland.

PHILADELPHIA, PA — Suzanne Sheer released the video for “Hell & Back” on Wednesday, August 5, the turning point of her sophomore album VOICES. Directed by Emmy-winning filmmaker Simone Holland, it puts Sheer on screen alone, playing both the puppet and the puppeteer.

“Hell & Back” is where the album stops looking for something to hold onto and hauls itself up out of the chaos. It moves at a sprint over relentless drums and propulsive bass, as Sheer spends it refusing to let anyone off the hook, herself included. She laughs off her own urge to quit and taunts any listener who ever wanted to give up. By the bridge she is shouting you out of your own head, demanding you “Jump out your body!” and stop overthinking, before landing on the line the whole record circles: nobody is gonna come and save your soul. It’s a pep talk sharpened into a dare.

Holland builds a small gothic theater around that idea. In a spiked crown and a white Elizabethan ruff, Sheer crouches over a marionette stage and works a miniature version of herself on red strings, grinning. Elsewhere two veiled doubles, one in black and one in white, reach for and claw at each other across the frame. No one else appears. There is no rescuer in the video and no antagonist either, only one woman occupying every role at once and deciding which of them holds the strings.

“I want my listeners to feel like someone is finally verbalizing something they feel but never could get out themselves. It’s heavy. There are more rock and roll elements than anything I’ve done before, the subject matter is heavy, and the production is dirty. But it’s still for the lovers.”— Suzanne Sheer, on VOICES

VOICES, released May 22, 2026, is Sheer’s first album since 2022’s The Blue Hour and was produced entirely by Philadelphia duo 3xpo and Lotits. Raised in Pittsburgh and based in Philadelphia since 2014, Sheer has crossed 2.5M+ combined cross-platform streams, earned sync placements with Pepsi, Comcast, ESPN, ABC, and Milk Makeup, and had her music chosen by both the Philadelphia Eagles and 76ers for their 2023 playoff runs. She has premiered on MTV, been featured on WXPN, and played Union Transfer, Underground Arts, and the Kimmel Center.

Fast facts

• Release: “Hell & Back” (video) — Wednesday, August 5, 2026
• Album: VOICES, out May 22, 2026
• Director: Simone Holland (Emmy winner)
• Produced by: 3xpo and Lotits
• Label: Cake Productions (Philadelphia)

About Cake Productions

Cake Productions is an independent record label, publishing house, and recording studio based at Warehouse on Watts in Philadelphia.