A pedal, a projector, and a stunning voice: this is all Miss Grit needs to put on a transporting show. The avant-pop project of NYC’s Margaret Sohn celebrated the release of their second record Under My Umbrella last Friday with an intimate performance in the city’s Night Club 101, turning the attention of a densely packed crowd to a stage lit up with an X-ray filtered camera mirroring the singer. Alone and supported only by their own guitar, yet also doubled, enlarged, and on full display, Miss Grit perfectly reflected their mind-bending record that forces intimacy to crack through their ribs with an equally mesmerizing show.

Under My Umbrella begins with “Tourist Mind”, a lush, synth-string number that undulates with resonant drum hits before picking up in a heart-racing, shimmering club beat. The song burrows itself into the ear —Sohn’s cool-toned vocals thread through the techno pop beat like silk ribbons — letting the repeated phrase, “I’ve never wanted to be so alone” take on a new meaning as the singer occupies the whole mind. The album, from then on, becomes one of singularity: while Miss Grit plays with the idea of a distant “you” in almost each track, structuring it as an intangible ideal, the tracks themselves are wrapped up solely in their voice, almost like they’ve become an extension of the self. A neat little trick that occurs in “It Feels Like”, for instance, is Sohn manipulating their hums into a synth beat, folding it into the electro pulses until it’s indistinguishable from the music. Likewise, the autotune effect on their vocals in “Where is My Head” makes the whole song vibrate, having each layer buzz like both a resonant bass line and a light gust of wind. The whole listening experience is cooling and hypnotic: the mantra-like lyrics soak through the skull, Sohn’s moody vocals glisten like liquid metal, and the guitar and drum machine combination inject a classic dreaminess to the electronic pop production.

Live then, the tick-tick-ticking of the drum machine, coupled with the distortion of the twinkling guitar and the humming of the pedal, fittingly plunged the listener into a trance, letting them forget about the physical space of Night Club 101 for a moment just to listen intently to the music. At Miss Grit’s performance on Friday, it didn’t matter who was brushing shoulders with who, whose beer got spilled after getting lightly knocked into, or who slipped through gaps to shuffle to the front. (I do have to commend people for also forgetting their phones; this concert may have been the first in a while where no one blocked my view just to record the whole thing.) Everyone there seemed in awe of the artist, eager to let them debut their new tracks for the first time.

Miss Grit at Nigh Club 101 on April 24, 2026 in New York, NY. Photography by Bobby Nicholas III

The experience of the album release show genuinely made me lose track of time or set list order: as Miss Grit flowed from song to song, mostly picking from the new album, the music fizzled into waves of pretty noises, sparkling when the intricate techno beats spiked in energy, and breezing by when Sohn brought the mood to a more somber place. Sure, their brief departure from the Under My Umbrella celebration to return to their invigorating, snappy, and hard rock-infused art pop debut Follow The Cyborg (and its titular track) could certainly be plucked out as a standalone moment. Here, the crowd broke out of their stupor and sprung into dancing, cheering the performer on as they confidently rocked through the electric guitar solo that, in a way, started it all. But, the rest of the show was exactly as billed: an ode to the new album that gave both listeners — all people who probably only heard this music for the first time that morning — and Miss Grit the space to appreciate the euphoria of getting lost in one’s own mind.

Under My Umbrella is a stellar new addition to Miss Grit’s catalogue — a beam of light glowing at full intensity, at least for those in the know about it. From what I saw on Friday, this artist truly is on the cusp of becoming a cult favorite performer, someone with the potential to put on a memorable show with little production but a lot of vision and creativity. One of the best kind of concert is one where I can both forget I’m a person and let the music pour over my head; this special hometown gig delivered that three-fold.

Miss Grit at Nigh Club 101 on April 24, 2026 in New York, NY. Photography by Bobby Nicholas III

Words by Victoria Borlando

order tickets for Miss Grit HERE