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Have you ever dreamed of sitting in on rehearsals for a Spice Girls show or a Blackpink tour, watching as the groups fine tune their stage presentation before taking it to the arena? That’s something close to what it was like being in the presence of MICHELLE, the future-pop sextet from New York that stopped by Mississippi Studios last week.
The hourlong set was almost exactly like a big stadium show by MICHELLE’s forebears: four fantastic female singers performing a set of tart and tangy pop tunes even as they hit their marks in a series of synchronized dance steps that kept them in constant motion.
What it wasn’t was perfect. Their choreography and vocal harmonies were a little wobbly at times, and performing in such close quarters meant watching them sweat and strain. About midway through the set, vocalist Layla Ku admitted defeat and dispensed with the too tight pair of shoes she was breaking in. Moments like that leant the evening the air of either a dress rehearsal or four junior high friends joyfully working through some moves for a TikTok video.
The secret to smoothing over those rough spots was the group’s songs. Producers Charlie Kilgore and Julian Kaufman, onstage with the singers playing bass and drums, respectively, have concocted a sound that is thoroughly modern while also evolving the vintage tone of ‘70s Sesame Street anthems and ESG jams.
Their collaborators—Ku and fellow vocalists Emma Lee, Jamee Lockard, and Sofia D’Angelo—level it all up with lyrics that touch on sex, racial identity and bad relationships. All subjects that drew out ripples of recognition and spirited singing from the exuberant and blessedly diverse audience.