Emerging singer-songwriter Kenzie took the stage on Wednesday, Nov. 6 at the Crescent Ballroom and delivered an intimate performance to an eager crowd holding on to every word. The singer peppered her set with personal stories about each song before she performed them, adding a more personal touch and giving context, including what led her to writing the songs or the situations she was in at the time of writing them. This worked so well because the album she is touring, “biting my tongue” is a very introspective and heavy piece of music.
It’s easy to see what artists have influenced Kenzie and had a role in developing her style. The cutting and specific lyrical material calls to mind someone like Olivia Rodrigo, who’s become one of the world’s biggest pop stars using that same lyrical formula. That influence is not just limited to lyrical content, as there’s a distorted voice effect on “the me i was” which are very similar to those used throughout Billie Eilish’s “When we all fall asleep where do we go?” or a string section on the outro of “anatomy” that sounds much the same as ones used on Phoebe Bridgers’ “Punisher.” Both of which are albums that were released during Kenzie’s adolescence and easily could have been big influences in her musical upbringing.
Overall, Kenzie’s performance at the Crescent Ballroom was exactly what her fans signed up for. Kenzie has described this latest album as a form of therapy for herself and that was evident in the way she performed the tracks from it, making the audience feel as though they were witnessing her bare her soul in a vulnerable way. That sort of authenticity goes a long way and makes me excited about what the young star has on the horizon.