Bre Kennedy has never been short on emotional awareness, but she has gotten sharper about how she delivers it. The Nashville-based songwriter has spent the past few years honing a style that blends pop instincts with diaristic songwriting, and on her latest album, “The Alchemist,” she sounds like an artist who has stopped second-guessing herself. The record does not announce its intentions loudly. Instead, it lets confidence show up in the details.
Her earlier releases, including 2023’s “Scream Over Everything,” leaned into immediacy, often favoring big feelings and bigger choruses. Those songs did their job well, placing her firmly in the lane of a writer who could deliver emotional punch. “The Alchemist” feels like the next logical step. The volume is turned down slightly, the focus turned inward, and the writing sharpened accordingly.
The album opens with “Grassroots,” which wastes no time setting expectations. Bre leads with a blunt admission about solitude and self-reliance, delivered with calm assurance. The production shimmers, keeping things interesting, but the song’s real strength is its soothing properties. The song lets the listener know this is an album about coming back to oneself without making a spectacle of it.
“Baby Blue” brings in more color, pairing emotional indulgence with a charming playfulness. The song embraces sadness as something to sit with, not rush past, and Bre sounds comfortable taking her time there. It is a reminder that feeling deeply does not require spiraling.
In “Idiot,” Bre turns the spotlight inward with honesty. Framed as her first true breakup song, it avoids the usual post-relationship clichés in favor of self-awareness and self-critique. That reflective tone continues on “Good Grief,” where healing is treated as a serious process, like it should, unfolding slowly and without rushing into conclusions.
By the time “The Alchemist” reaches songs like “Willow” and “Looking For,” Bre Kennedy seems fully at ease with herself. Doubt, relief, and longing all coexist comfortably. The album is not meant to be a one-way ticket to resolve those tensions, and that is part of its charm. “The Alchemist” is playful in its confidence, witty in its self-awareness, and content to let growth speak for itself. It is the sound of an artist who knows exactly where she is and is no longer in a hurry to be anywhere else.
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