Concert Review: Nina Lee Shows A Promising, Permanent Music Future At Mercury Lounge

I was INCREDIBLY impressed by Nina Lee’s performance at Mercury Lounge. By interviewing her, alone, I could see she was an old soul. Thus, her performance helped to balance both the maturity and youngness of this rising songstress. That balance radiated to me a premonition: Nina Lee is in this business for the LONG HAUL! She glowed with a music permanence and promise. 

From her posture to her vocal prowess, Nina Lee carries herself with a regality you earn through experience. Thus, how does a high-schooler have more confidence for grace then most of us? Maybe, it is because it is not about the experiences you have as much as the experiences you absorb. As she played from her EP Snapshots, Nina Lee brought a new layer to her usual themes of love, nostalgia, and building self-esteem. Instead, her songs focused on how you receive life. In perspective, from remembrance to self-worth, how we take in the ones that love us and the ones that do not affects how much we gain from life. As she sang her song “Airborne” to an ensuing standing ovation, which I have NEVER seen at Mercury Lounge, the final song, in particular, emanated the star- power of Ms. Lee. She sings as if life and love is something to take, while most us believe it is something given. The “flipped script” pours into tracks like “Willing”, “Safe Place”, and “Golden Years” like her voice was a honey-maple syrup meant to prove that every situation/ pancake has two sides, but they all come from the same batter.

We are all alive, but as 2017 ends and 2018 bitterly tussles for optimism, #taxreform, we all have and will end up questioning whether we are “living”. Having a vocality that is gritted, graveled, and gifted with wisdom, Lee patches her notes like they are apart of some grand quilt she is making for her soul. This lyrical “quilt” is meant to cover all the knowledge she has and wants to gain from this life. Such a desire is refreshing, and makes you attentively watch her performance because, frankly, most of us, out of hopelessness, do not want to know anything any more. Hence, there is a grandness and curiosity to her spirit/ artistry that helps you recognize her youth, but also admire how much maturity she has and will gain. Thus, as I saw Nina Lee’s performance, I thought, “Maybe that is the key to eternal youth; to be eternally curious and open to life’s experiences”. For More Information On Nina Lee Click Here.