Pop-rock duo “Babygirl” concluded its debut tour at the 9:30 Club in D.C. on Nov. 22. Kirsten “Kiki” Frances and Cameron “Bright” Breithaupt joined Jeremy Zucker to open for the East Coast leg of his More Noise tour.
The band originally gained popularity with its debut single “Overbored” in 2016, and has since released three EP’s, “As You Wish,” “Lovers Fevers” and its 2020 release of “Losers Weepers” earned them a spot on the Spotify and Apple Music New Music playlists. The Toronto natives entwine hauntingly emotional lyrics with light and airy melodies, blending different genres together.
“I think that we’re definitely lyric driven, for sure,” Frances said in an interview with The Eagle. “We typically start with a lyric that kind of just reads off the page as something that we think is special, and then build it from there into what the fans hear today.”
The pair strolled onto the stage in simple white tops and corduroy pants and launched their set with the popular song “You Were in My Dream Last Night” which features Frances’ smooth vocals portraying a story about a love lost.
They went on to perform several of their more upbeat songs including the 2020 releases “Easy” and “Homemade Holiday,” before later going into a cover of Taylor Swift’s “Treacherous” and a performance of one of their unreleased songs.
“This is a song about just singing and driving around in a car, which is what we do all the time as touring musicians,” Breithaupt said to the crowd before launching into the unreleased song titled “Me, You and My Car,” which features a guitar solo by Breithaupt.
While it went unperformed, their newest release, “Born With a Broken Heart” has gotten much praise for its deeply personal lyrics. Released in October, Frances said it is particularly important to the duo. Lines such as “Cause I was born with a broken heart/ It was torn from the very start/Predisposed to hold a rose by the sharpest part/ It’s almost like I’m built to fall apart” tell the wistful story of someone who is unlucky in love.
“The message of it felt really special, I think any song that is kind of sympathizing with some of the sadder parts of being alive is nice because I think it’s harder to write a song that’s just kind of about general life in a way that doesn’t feel preachy or anything,” said Frances.
The pair has a unique sound, incorporating a blend of pop, rock and alternative sounds to their soft and simple vocals. They often attribute some of their inspirations to Avril Lavigne and Taylor Swift when trying to find their sound.
“It's very hard work to create the sound we want in our music, but it’s definitely not hard to know when the music has our sound,” said Breithaupt.
Babygirl rounded out their set, and debut tour, with their hit single from Lovers Fevers, “I Wish I Never Met You,” thanking the crowd and Zucker for making their first time performing on the road a special one. The band performed 10 shows in November.
The pair agreed that the highlight of the tour was meeting the fans. “Meeting people after the show is always so cool. We’ve met some people who we’ve DM’ed with over the years so it’s cool to meet them in real life and see that they’re real.”
They also were able to take it back to their roots and perform a show in their hometown of Toronto, Canada which they described as a gratifying experience.
“We got to play at a venue that we’ve seen a bunch of shows at as fans, so to get to be performing on the same stage is amazing,” Frances said.
Babygirl’s performance was heartfelt and filled with energy, emotion and excitement, ending their debut tour on a high note.
