'American Idol' Alum Jenna DeVries Confronts Her Cult Past in Music Video for 'RIP' (Exclusive)

"I was raised in a very high-control religious environment," the singer tells PEOPLE. "I was subject to a lot of inhumane things because of it"

There has always been a darkness in the eyes of Jenna DeVries.

Granted, it’s a darkness that seems to somewhat brighten when the LGBTQ+ country artist delivers songs such as the bright and bubbly "Back to Me" and the fun and flirty "Drunk Girls."  But over the course of her new single "RIP," the New York native reveals a pain that has simmered in her heart since she was just a little girl.

"I was raised in a very high-control religious environment — a cult setting, if I'm being honest," DeVries tells PEOPLE. "I was subject to a lot of inhumane things because of it. I was married off at 19 years old to an incredibly abusive man, and I was in an abusive relationship for about four years. When I left him, I was completely ostracized by my entire community."

Soon, DeVries found herself in a "conversion therapy camp that she describes as "horrific." "And when I came out a few years later after my divorce, it was like that entire community just abandoned me again," says DeVries, who first garnered attention back in 2016 as a Top 24 finalist on American Idol. "I felt like every time that I was in a place in my life where I really needed those people to embody all of the values that they supposedly held dear, they fell flat."

It's these dire feelings that led DeVries to write "RIP."

"The song was definitely written from a place of anger," she says of the song she penned alongside Tyler Jacobson. "It's been so interesting to grieve everything that I've lost and to see how much power these communities can hold over people in a detrimental way. And especially being out in the LGBTQ+ community now, I couldn't believe the amount of people who said that they loved me who won't speak to me anymore."

She goes on to refer to a line in the song – If I die alone well, baby then at least I’ll rest in peace, rest in peace.

"I would rather live my life this way completely alone than be surrounded by people who are trying to destroy literally the core of who I am," DeVries says quietly. "And that's the truth."

Premiering exclusively on PEOPLE, the Stephen Dillon directed music video for "RIP" brings with it shocking imagery of the darkness DeVries once found herself in.

"I start the video in a coffin," says DeVries, who came out in 2019. "And for me, I just had this vision of this picture of being trapped and being isolated and kind of floating there on top of the water."

From there, DeVries is pictured strolling throughout a graveyard and dancing amongst a raging bonfire in the music video, filmed entirely in the Nashville area.

"We're touching a little bit on women being burned at the stake, and we're touching a little bit on that idea of Lilith in the garden as well, and all of these figures in mythology that were ostracized for being powerful," she explains. "I guess this video is just this celebration of the divine feminine and the power that comes from a woman stepping into her identity and not letting people control her. It was wildly cathartic for me.”

Making the video that much more eerie was the addition of the 19-foot, 35-pound albino Burmese python named Sunshine.

"This is my wife's favorite part of the video," says DeVries, who married Audrey Mattoon four years ago. "I remember her sitting there on the couch reading, and suddenly, I yelled from across the house, 'Babe, I figured out a way to rent a snake!'" She laughs. "I had a great time holding her, but the dancers were terrified."

Another shocking aspect of the music video is the transformation DeVries goes through throughout the video in terms of her looks, somewhat magically created by makeup artist Adriana Mejia.

"We did all of those looks in one day, which was insane," says DeVries. "We got to the final scene with the black paint, and we painted my whole body. It was everything I could ever dream of. It turned out perfectly."

And now, DeVries hopes that the video goes and helps others.

"I feel like our society doesn't want women to be angry," she concludes. "But I think women are starting to understand their own anger. And I'm hoping this song helps women access that anger and be able to say, 'The things that have happened to me or have been done to me are not OK. And I'm not OK with it and I'm not going to sit here and take it anymore.'"

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Read the original article on People.