Montclair, New Jersey native Lena Fine began posting music online as a teenager seven years ago. Over time, she’s graduated from scaled-down home recordings to more spacious studio work, and she’s moved her base of operations south to Philadelphia. Connecting with a new community of musicians orbiting the Drexel scene, her self-styled “soft indie pop” took on a new life with a band of players that elevate her live shows and singles alike with energy and emotion.
There’s an undeniable undercurrent of boygenius to Fine’s music (especially on the introspective catharsis of “Stucktober”), but also a touch of impeccably hooky indie country (“Julian” is a song Kacey Musgraves probably wishes she wrote), as well as swirling, expressive, borderline post-rock dynamics (“Shoulder To Shoulder,” in this performance for The Key Studio Sessions, is a breathtaking stunner).
It does a lot stylistically, but also emotionally. In a 2021 interview with Turntable Ruminations, Fine said “I’ve always written music first for myself, and second with the hopes that, should someone hear it and really listen, I can at the very least make them feel something. It’s exciting to think that the more music I make, the more I can make that connection with people and give them something to connect with others over.”
It’s safe to say she’s succeeding. Watch Lena Fine’s Key Studio Session — performed with Atticus Deeny on bass, Bay DuPuy on guitar, and Olias Bendian on drums — below, and find out what she’s up to this summer and beyond by following her on IG at @_lenafine_.