Artist Profile: Grace Enger on Turning Life to Gold Through Music

At just 22 years old, singer-songwriter Grace Enger is confidently shaping her own path. For her, music is a powerful vehicle to explore and express her boundless ambitions and hopes.

“Songwriting is a form of an alchemy,” said Enger in an interview with The Crimson about her second EP, “The Alchemist,” which was released in Dec. 2024.

The title track, eponymous with the EP, represents a profound personal and emotional metamorphosis that defined the sonic and lyrical themes of the EP.

“The title ended up touching on so many things that I learned over the past year,” Enger said.

Channeling her personal experiences, Enger turns past pain into art and positive perspectives, connecting with her fans worldwide through her highly relatable lyrics. As she embarks on her first sold-out headline tour — the It’s So Fun Tour across North America — Enger spreads positivity through her emotional and cathartic performance, supported by Jake Minch as her opening guest and a band of three, including herself.

“It is truly crazy just to see how many people my music is affecting,” Enger said, remarking on the joy of live performances. “On bad days, you think that nobody is listening to music, but showing up today and seeing that there’s a line down the block is really, really, really crazy.”

Enger first gained attention by singing intimate ballads on social media. She subsequently opened for Maisie Peters’ “The Good Witch” Tour in 2023 and Laufey’s “Bewitched”: The Goddess Tour in 2024, both times performing stripped-down acoustic sets by herself. However, Enger took the spirit of transformation further onto her own tour, amplifying her raw vocals with a full-band production.

Reflecting on her musical evolution, Enger cited female singer-songwriters like Sara Bareilles, Alanis Morissette, and Hayley Williams as key influences.

“I think I leaned more into live instrumentation and that live band feel,” Enger said, revealing the influence of rock on her recent music.

She is putting her own modern spin on a wide history of music, adding an authentic and playful flair as exemplified through her powerful choruses, emotionally resonant lyrics, and cathartic instrumentations. However, she is by no means defining herself with a specific genre or style.

Drawing from her appreciation for Motown artists such as Stevie Wonder and Aretha Franklin, her song “A Year From Now” is reminiscent of the same bluesy mood, accompanied with her evocative storytelling in the lyrics.

“I know who I am and what I want more out of my music and my visuals, what I want my stage to look like, how I want the people who surround me to feel around me, and the work environment that I am cultivating,” Enger said, reflecting on her professional growth as an artist since opening for Peters and Laufey.

She commented on having them and other female artists as role models for crafting her own path.

“I think I have definitely grown more confident in my vision,” Enger said.

Enger’s performance radiated this sense of confidence. Her live vocals possessed great emotional depth and expressive power, well-complemented by the dynamic and percussive instrumentation, captivating a full house of fans.

When asked about her favorite memories of the tour so far, Enger did not hesitate to talk about her show in New York City on Mar. 4 at the iconic Bowery Ballroom. It was the hometown show for Enger, who grew up in Hoboken, New Jersey, and it was also her biggest headline show to date.

“The whole night is going to be ingrained in my memory,” Enger said, specifically recalling singing a cover of “Still Into You” by Paramore. “It was so, so, so surreal.”

Enger made the New York City show an even more special stop by working with the non-profit organization I Support The Girls. Enger hosted a physical donation drive for bras and feminine products at the show and is planning to repeat the drive at her Los Angeles performance on Mar. 20. For other stops of the tour, she is also providing information about the organization and collecting monetary donations.

“[I Support The Girls] distribute[s] pads, tampons, bras to a bunch of underserved communities and organizations,” Enger said, emphasizing that the idea of “do what you can” has been central to her education growing up.

“If I can gather this many people for my music, how much good can we do if we multiply that by 20 cities, by 500 people in each city, and so on and so forth?” she said.

Enger further discussed her hope to use her music to inspire collective action, as well as the sense of responsibility and wariness that could come with having a larger platform. But at the end of the day, she was simply grateful for the community that valued her music and wanted to extend this safe and welcoming environment of music beyond the concert itself.

From experimenting with music and exploring different styles of instrumentation in her EP to finding her own vision and voice as a rising artist with a growing platform, Enger stays true to the metamorphic journey she has embarked on since the release of “The Alchemist.” Through her music, concerts, and social initiatives, she continues to turn many things in life into fond memories and positive outcomes, like a true alchemist.

When asked about her future plans, Enger said that she has been writing, gathering ideas, and collecting inspiration for the next project — although nothing has been recorded or set in stone yet.

“My dreams are big. So I hope, you know, I hope to be playing Fenway,” Enger said, laughing.

Yet the ambition and determination sparkling in her eyes was evident and earnest.

“Honestly, I’m just making music that helps and impacts as many people as possible,” she said.

—Staff writer Xinran (Olivia) Ma can be reached at xinran.ma@thecrimson.com.