Kim McClay’s ‘Velveteen Girls’ feels like the kind of song that makes you want to roll the windows down, turn the volume all the way up, and remind yourself that you do not owe anyone a smaller version of who you are. As the opening track of her EP Worth It, the song is a celebration of women, individuality, aging, and all the parts of ourselves we are sometimes taught to hide.
Based in New York City, Kim McClay is an actor, singer-songwriter, and recording artist who has been performing throughout the NYC music scene since 2018, with performances at venues including Birdland Jazz Club and Mercury Lounge. Originally from St. Louis, she has also taken her music beyond New York, including a solo performance at Sheldon Concert Hall and a featured appearance at the 2025 Ladybug Music Festival in Wilmington, Delaware. Her five-song EP Worth It was released in June 2026, and outside of her own music, McClay is also developing a folk-rock musical adaptation of Little Women.
There is something immediately rebellious about ‘Velveteen Girls’. The gritty guitars, driving drums, and rawness in the production give it that garage-band rock energy, making the song feel loud, unpolished in the best possible way, and completely unapologetic. It carries an alt-rock edge that makes the message hit even harder.
Lyrically, McClay questions the way women are often reduced to what they look like rather than who they actually are. The song asks what happens when being “pretty” or “sparkly” becomes the only thing people are willing to see in you, while everything happening underneath gets overlooked.
“A pretty face, a pretty girl
Is that all I am to you?”
That sentiment immediately reminded me of the famous “Cool Girl” monologue from Gone Girl, particularly its commentary on the expectations placed on women to perform a certain version of femininity. “Velveteen Girls” feels like a musical response to that pressure: what if I stop performing altogether? What if you actually let me be exactly who I am?
“I don’t think you understand at all
I contain in me
I’m swimming in ideas
If only you could see me”
And that might be my favorite part of the song. There is this frustration in knowing that someone has created an image of you without ever taking the time to understand everything that exists beneath it. McClay pushes back against being defined by appearances, reminding listeners that there is an entire person underneath the surface, filled with ideas, experiences, contradictions, and stories.
The song also carries a message about the freedom that comes with letting yourself be seen on your own terms. There is something especially powerful about the idea of knowing that someone may only appreciate you when you are polished, young, beautiful, or “sparkly,” and choosing not to care anymore.
“You only see what I let you
’Cause I know that you will love me
When I’m no longer so sparkly”
The accompanying music video makes that message even more powerful. Featuring women of different ages, backgrounds, appearances, and experiences, the video feels like a visual celebration of individuality. They are not trying to fit into one definition of beauty or femininity. They are simply existing, smiling, celebrating themselves, and taking up space exactly as they are.
That is what makes “Velveteen Girls” feel bigger than just another rock song. It is a feminist anthem about refusing to shrink yourself for someone else’s comfort. It is about recognizing that women can be complicated, intelligent, creative, loud, soft, messy, ambitious, aging, beautiful, and everything in between.
Velveteen Girls feels like a reminder that there is so much more to a person than what initially catches your eye. McClay takes that frustration and turns it into something energetic, empowering, and honestly just really fun to listen to.
“Velveteen Girls” is out now, and Worth It is available to stream wherever you listen to music.
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