In her boldest single to date, Reeya Banerjee dives headfirst into the electric mess of her New York City corporate era with Runner—a breathless, blistering punk track that captures the adrenaline, anxiety, and absurdity of life lived on the clock. Today, we’re thrilled to premiere the official music video for Runner, a visceral snapshot of motion, memory, and survival in heels.
Watch the video here:
Set to a Ramones-inspired backdrop crafted by producer and co-writer Luke Folger, Runner is the fastest, loudest track from Banerjee’s upcoming album This Place. It’s part love letter, part middle finger to her mid-20s—when the days began before dawn, commutes turned into cardio, and the Mid-Hudson Bridge felt like both a finish line and a lifeline. “I never missed the train,” she says, and the music reflects that same relentless, slightly unhinged determination.
From the first frantic guitar strum, Runner catapults the listener through crowded platforms, pounding footfalls, and the rush-hour crush of identity formation. Banerjee’s lyrics read like a stream-of-consciousness journal entry—funny, furious, and deeply felt. As the drums push the tempo and the guitars grow sharper, the song builds to a finale that punches with the force of Smells Like Teen Spirit, turning a daily commute into a full-body sprint through memory.
The video, directed by Banerjee herself and shot by Guntas Singh and Jack Quigley, with editing by Khalifa Cyrus, brings that experience to life in vivid, kinetic detail. Filmed on location in Manhattan and Brooklyn, it finds Banerjee literally running barefoot through Grand Central Terminal—a moment pulled straight from her real-life commute. “I used to sprint barefoot to catch my train,” she recalls. “I’d ditch the heels, run across the marble floor, and collapse into a seat just as the doors closed.” That raw, unfiltered energy animates every frame of the video, which blends performance footage with fast-paced time-lapses and candid handheld shots to capture the chaos and comedy of young adulthood in motion.
Unlike her previous animated and lyric videos, Runner marks Banerjee’s first traditional narrative music video—and it trades dreamlike abstraction for something urgent and corporeal. Edited once again by Cyrus, the video matches the song’s breathless pacing beat for beat, emphasizing the tension between ambition and exhaustion, discipline and delirium. There’s grit, humor, and just enough nostalgia to sting.
A songwriter and storyteller based in Whippany, NJ, Reeya Banerjee is known for weaving personal experience into lush, emotionally resonant songs rooted in narrative. Drawing from influences like The Beatles, Springsteen, U2, and 90s power pop, her music explores themes of mental health, grief, healing, and identity through a cinematic lens. Her forthcoming album This Place maps the emotional geography of her life—each city representing a different facet of who she’s been.
On Runner, we meet the Reeya who ran—through stations, offices, and expectations—but always toward something real. This isn’t just a commute. It’s a transformation.
Watch the premiere of “Runner” now, and catch your breath—if you can.