Fans flooded into a packed Irving Plaza last Tuesday evening, many of them wearing an unspoken dress code of bright, fiery red— the signature color of Lyn Lapid’s debut album BUZZKILL. Despite coming onto the music scene at the height of the pandemic, the Filipino-American singer-songwriter has grown a sizable fanbase, playing shows to energetic crowds that feel like anything but buzzkills.
The album documents Lapid’s lost and isolated feelings around moving to Los Angeles on her own, capturing the experience of being surrounded by people yet struggling to form true connections. She channeled those feelings into a record of catchy hooks and honest, sometimes tongue-in-cheek, yet immediately relatable songs that the New York City crowd sang back every word to.
Listening to Lyn Lapid’s songs feels much like growing and maturing alongside her. Coming to terms with the past, gazing toward the future, blossoming new love, navigating the turbulent, messy, beautiful change of young adulthood. As she began her set with “buttons” and “coraline,” Lapid searched for a place and people to call home and found it on the stage. Moving into her breakout hits “Producer Man” and “poster boy,” she chose a lucky fan in the crowd to dedicate the latter song to, proclaiming them the titular poster boy. She even saved a spot in the setlist for a cover of “Love Like You” from the animated show Steven Universe, a series beloved not just by Lapid but her fans as well, as the crowd cheered in recognition.
Lyn Lapid’s show had the air of a full-circle moment, a risk that paid off; singing songs about feeling lost in a crowd, to a crowd where she was the center of rapt attention. A space where she doesn’t bring down the energy, but raises it up to new heights like a fire blazing radiant red.
Leave a Reply