From Algorithm to Altar: An Intimate Evening with Nessa Barrett

Nessa Barrett by Elizabeth Feirstein

When you think of a musical come up story, there’s probably a certain order of events that spring to mind: talented musician commits to their artistic vision and works their way from empty bars to local venues with a small, dedicated audience. Industry personal discovers said musician and brings them the resources and connections they were unable to secure alone. Together they are able to reach audiences that were unattainable before. But what happens when the audience finds you before you have a project to share with them? Nessa Barrett is a prime example of this new internet order of operations. She first popped up on people’s phones in 2019, when she was a high schooler uploading videos to TikTok. Since then, she’s redirected the attention of netizens from her personal life towards building herself a music career and released a project almost yearly. 

An Intimate Evening with Nessa Barrett took place in Brooklyn at the St Ann & the Holy Trinity Church. The audience was a cluster of black lace and burgundy lipstick

Nessa Barrett by Elizabeth Feirstein

standing on church pews in hopes of a better view. The aisle leading to the altar-of-a-stage was manned by two men in suits holding platters with welcome notes for guests that read like the opening lines of a murder mystery. A string quartet that was covering modern hits exited the stage and a representative of the church guided concert goers to the porta potties on either side of the 19th century nave. When the lights dropped and a Tim Burton-esque narrator intro started, Nessa entered from stage right and joined a suit clad, all male band. She began her set with Venom, the fourth track off her recent LP, Jesus loves a primadonna. The band played guitar, keys, and drums live to a cinematic backing track filled with mellotron strings.

She wore a red gown with sparkly black beading and a black masquerade mask which she abandoned after her first song. Her band was mostly unlit, the cool white lights flashing between pointing focus at Nessa then the 80 foot columns

Nessa Barrett by Elizabeth Feirstein

of the altar, and back & forth. It's hard to tell what was brought in as set dressing and which religious props naturally blended in with the vampiric, american-gothic aesthetic of Nessa’s latest release. As the show went on, it was harder and harder to see her with girls clambering and dancing onto pews while turtling their necks around stone columns. Her audience called out to her conversationally, like they were cheering on their friend at an all school assembly rather than a fan in a crowd. A personal highlight for me was her interlude lucky star. The song is empty production wise except for Nessa’s vocals which are processed with a vocoder. The acoustics of the cathedral echoed back the melody and made it sound like a chorus of people. It was hard to distinguish between what was the crowd and what was an echo. The crowd was loudest for her song american jesus, a Billie Eilish production - Lana Del Rey imagery - Susannah Joffe subject matter - blend of pop song.

Nessa’s stage persona was exactly what the environment called for – natural, relaxed, and evocative of a girl dancing in her room to her bluesiest songs in her slinkiest dress. In 2023, a friend of mine (photographer Elizabeth Feirstein) asked if I wanted to use her spare press pass to see a free show at the Irving Plaza. The show was Nessa Barrett on her Young Forever tour, her debut tour for her debut album. I remember thinking her songs were pretty and so was she, but with the nature of social media these days, the music got lost in my library with the onslaught of constant releases and I failed to keep up with her evolutions. This week, three years later, that same friend asked if I wanted to come and review the new set an hour before the show was supposed to start. In the time since I last saw her, Nessa’s stage presence has butterflied from nervous pacing to a confident stillness. I’d liken it to an inner peace of knowing your audience is at your will, not the other way around. She’s really come into her own and found her niche as a performer. Nessa’s music would be a good fit for fans of Remy Bond, Sofia Isella, and Ethel Cain’s occasional forays into traditional pop. 

Written by Nathalie Miller

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