Veritas is the fourth studio album by Swedish recording artist Agnes, and was released on 5 September 2012 in Sweden. The album was released worldwide on 1 April 2014.
Background and development
The Swedish tabloid Expressen stated that the album was to be released within the first six months of 2011, but was later delayed for a year until "during the spring 2012". The first official single was "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" which premiered on 5 August 2011 at Mr. Gay Sweden Show. This was later considered an intermediate release and was only featured as a bonus track on the French deluxe edition of the album.
On 28 May 2012, Agnes released the lead single, "One Last Time", unlike her previous singles, this was released in Sweden only. In an interview with "Mix Megapol" Agnes also said that her goal with the fourth album was to be involved with all the songs. Her American record company Interscope wanted her to move to the U.S and record the album there, but Agnes didn't feel "at home" and couldn't find the people that she wanted to work with. Therefore, she decided to go back to Sweden and record her album there.
In early August 2012 a release date was finally confirmed and later on August 14 the title and artwork of the album was officially announced. In a press release from the record company Agnes commented on the album name; "I like how the word 'Veritas' subside, aesthetically how it looks and especially what it stands for. The word fits very well with the whole idea behind this album. I always want to be one hundred percent true to myself in everything I do, and for me, all the work and time with this album has been so much more than just record an album. A lot of questions, both large and small, have come up in my head and it really has been an amazing journey. "
The artwork consists of the photographs, where the one in the background is taken from a photoshoot with Swedish magazine "Nöjesguiden" in December 2011 by photograph Frederick Etoall. The photo was then featured in an article titled "Släpp Agnes fri" (eng: Release Agnes) and also used as the cover of the December issue of the magazine. The idea behind the cover was to radiate a collision between soft and hard. The photographer Frederick Etoall came up with the idea to project a portrait of Agnes on her naked body. When commenting on the cover in an interview with Metro International Agnes said that she was very pleased with the result; "I'm very happy, the lips look almost painted out. I was naked and we projected my face against a wall. It was a hell of a job getting the lips so that they covered her breasts but I had a lot of people there who saw that it was so".
Composition and influence
In an early review by Scandipop, they commented on the song "Into the Sun" and stated that it "straight away stood out as one of our big favourites on 'Veritas'. It's got a chorus that hits you like a truck, and a production that shines through particularly in the verses, which makes you pick yourself up off the floor again." They also homage the fact that Patrik Berger, the writer behind Robyn's monster hit "Dancing on My Own", now has taken an interest for Agnes on this album. The british music blog The Prophet Blog stated that they had underestimated Agnes as some generic pop singer who belong in gay nightclubs and that she deserves more recognition and homage the single "One Last Time". "The producer Quant serves up a cunning surprise on the song]s bridge, fooling you for a split second into thinking a dubstep breakdown is about to take place, right before dropping a thundering drum line that leads into Agnes screaming, her voice distorted and twisted until she sounds like an android dying of a broken heart." Scandipop later refer to the songs on the album to be "A militant electrodisco production".