Kelsey Lu: The Bitter End 2026

Kelsey Lu's stretch of seven years between their acclaimed debut album, Blood, and 2026's outstanding followup, So Help Me God, is affirmation that good things are very much worth the wait. 

The Brooklyn-based cellist, singer, and songwriter has explored alternate avenues during those intervening years, scoring the 2023 drama "Earth Mama," directed by BAFTA winner Savanah Leaf, and the 2024 Netflix documentary "Daughters." Lu's 2019 cover of 10CC's "I'm Not In Love," which appeared on Blood, was a pivotal track used in the first season of "Euphoria." Over the years, Lu has collaborated with Yves Tumor, Jamie xx, Beverly Glenn-Copeland, and others, and lent their vision to projects for New York's Museum of Modern Art and MoMA PS1.

Lu also took a cinematic turn for So Help Me God — there's a film, directed by Leaf, that accompanies the album which Lu co-produced with Jack Antonoff and Yves Rothman. The album includes a collaboration with Mercury Prize winner Sampha ("Better Than That") as well as contributions from Kamasi Washington, Kim Gordon, and Lady Jess.

A riveting live performer with a dramatically mutable vocal range, Lu and their band — guitarist Bryndon Cook, keyboardist Mikael Darmanie, bassist Christopher 'Crow' Venditti, and drummer Zach Berns — chose an arresting eight-song set at The Bitter End for Marquee members earlier this spring. That set included several highlights from So Help Me God, including "American Sonnet," "Portrait of a Lady on Fire," and "Running to Pain" — all available to watch via videos below.

[Recorded: 6/15/26;  Engineered by Jim O'Hara, produced by Gwen Taylor and Heather Jones, hosted by Alisa Ali. Videographers: Olivia Iannaccone, Dylan Duong, and Danny Cifelli.]