By: Cassie Limberakis
CHICAGO– Jensen McRae played at Lincoln Hall for her tour, “Praying for Your Downfal.” Her astute songwriting and painfully melancholic melodies made for an excellent live performance. This tour is celebrating the release of her newest album, “I Don’t Know How but They Found Me!” This past year, she opened for Noah Kahan on his “Stick Season (We’ll All Be Here Forever)” tour. And in 2022 she opened for both MUNA and Maude Latour.
McRae’s opener, Lauren Juzang, had a very confessional style of writing. Juzang complemented McRae’s sultry voice perfectly with her raspy and angelic tones. She communicates incredibly intense emotions through delicate melodies.
McRae graced the stage in a beautiful puff-sleeved dress and black boots. Her songs portray her innermost thoughts, like what reading an internal monologue would feel like. Her song “Dead Girl Walking” is all about what it feels like to constantly battle depression, even when it doesn’t seem that bad from the outside looking in.
“World is watching me/The dead girl walking/Keep my ghosts from talking and the mask won’t fall/Friends come often/With their praise and problems/I’m a dead girl walking/For a good time call” Says the song.
She also utilizes religious imagery as a way to convey thoughts that are hard to swallow. She refers to herself as her past lover’s “manna,” having a direct reference to the Bible. “Burned bridges east of Atlanta, well, no wonder you lost manna.” In the bridge of “Savannah,” she refers to her past lover as a “false prophet,” further saying he no longer holds the grip he used to have on her.
The energy produced in Lincoln Hall from McRae and Juzang was magnetic, a night that will certainly not be forgotten.
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