A wide range of skills and influences

On April 8th, 2022, producer/artist Kacey Fassett released Drained Drama Queen, her first full-length project, following a steady string of singles. Fassett is a multifaceted musician and her music combines her various skills and influences. As a vocalist, saxophonist and producer, this album showcases her abilities in all areas. Outside of this solo project, she is part of the musical duo Fassett & Rubenstein.

Drained Drama Queen consists of seven tracks featuring three previously released singles: “Crushed,” “Thursday” and “Influencer.” As a whole, this album is pop-influenced but is not bound to just one genre. Fassett’s wide range of skills and influences shines through in her album. Some tracks feature saxophone sections, while some like “In The Trenches” have a bit more of a dark-pop feel.

The album opens up with “DMs,” a slower, emotional track where Fassett explains that she doesn’t want people around her that don’t see her for who she is. It’s an intense way to start off the album, building into a heavy section with layered, warped vocals. “DMs” features her exceptional talents with the saxophone, but it feels a bit out of place with the intense lyrics and instrumental. “DMs” is expressive but feels a bit disjointed.

“Influencer” is track two, an upbeat song that opens up with a bouncy acoustic guitar line. “Influencer” is a full 180 from track one, focusing instead on heavy pop influences. “Influencer” is a commentary on how social media presents a fake image of people. The lyrics are a bit predictable, as social media criticism is a common topic in music and art in modern-day music. However, the vocals on this track are phenomenal, especially when the chorus kicks in.

The listener is then eased into “Crushed,” a similarly upbeat track with lyrics about a potential future with a crush. Fassett muses about how she’ll opt for just loving from afar after experiencing one too many heartbreaks. It’s a sweet, simple yearning song that everyone can relate to. The vocals on this one are great as well. This one also features a saxophone section, which fits in more with the tone of this song than it did with track one.

“In The Trenches” is a super dark, shorter track that captures the feeling of spiraling. Like the opener, this is another incredibly expressive song, tying all elements from previous tracks together. Although shorter than other tracks, “In The Trenchers” serves as a nice interlude in the middle of the album.

The second half of the album kicks off with “West LA,” which starts with flute and saxophone. This track goes back and forth between Fassett’s vocal sections and her saxophone sections and does a great job of showcasing her talent in both.

The longest track on the album is next, “Thursday.” This is another upbeat track, with lyrics detailing going through a breakup/hard times, specifically in the age of social media. The theme of social media and its impact carries throughout this project, and Fassett’s commentary is interesting. Unfortunately, the topic of social media in music is a bit oversaturated.

Drained Drama Queen wraps up with “All Alone,” a synth-pop track reflecting on the pandemic and isolation. While very expressive, this is another track that feels disjointed. It starts with a strange synth line on top of the sound of running water. The synth line continues throughout the entire song without much change. More variety would’ve made it build more to help the instrumental flow better with the emotion of the lyrics.

Drained Drama Queen is a very expressive project and Kacey Fassett is undeniably talented. There were just a few factors that fell flat. This album could benefit from some better mixing when it comes to the vocals, and some more cohesiveness throughout the tracks. Overall, the saxophone sections and Fassett’s vocals were the highlights, and this is a great time capsule of how it felt to be a young person during the pandemic.