Kenzie's "Face To Face" Is An Ode To Digital Loneliness
The rising pop star breaks down her new song's inspiration — and reveals her album plans.
It’s time for kenzie to face it. Elite Daily is exclusively premiering the pop star’s new single “Face to Face,” out Jan. 12, and its music video. In the song, the 19-year-old singer-songwriter grapples with her complex feelings about social media. How can we feel more disconnected than ever in the age of FaceTime, DMs, and group chats? “I feel digital loneliness all the time,” kenzie tells Elite Daily of the track’s inspiration. “Social media is such a highlight reel; you always see the best moments, but that's just not how life is. I think a lot of us get trapped in this social media world.”
In the tender pop song, kenzie mourns the loss of a relationship that disappeared in the abyss of cyberspace. The lyrics are universally relatable — “How can we be so far apart, face to face?” — but kenzie shares that they sprung from a deeply personal experience. “I went through a lot of friendship breakups last year,” she says. “I'm really bad at confrontation, and so the way I tried to resolve things was over the phone. This song was inspired by that: not being able to connect with someone in a real way. Having these issues, and not being able to say it face to face.”
That yearning is at the core of the music video, which opens with kenzie and other young women confessing their insecurities about being so online. After putting her phone down, kenzie is free to run around with her buddies (yes, those are “three of [her] bestest friends” IRL).
“I wanted to make this video super authentic and real,” kenzie says. “I wanted my friends running around LA like maniacs and having fun, but also seeing those moments where I'm kind of disconnected from them, because it is so normal for that to happen in a group setting.”
“Face to Face” is the latest in a long string of singles from kenzie. After rising to fame on Dance Moms alongside her sister Maddie Ziegler, kenzie shifted her focus from dance to singing. Since she put out her sophomore album Phases in 2018, the pop star has side-stepped the traditional album release pattern and instead embraced dropping her songs as one-offs.
“It kind of gives people more of a look into my life,” kenzie says of the release strategy. “And it also gives me a chance to see what people are enjoying. I think it also helps me work towards my sound. I am so young, and I have so much time to figure it out.”
But that long-awaited third album is in the works. Kenzie says she’s planning to release it in July, but she first has to narrow down the track list. “I'm definitely going to pick and choose my favorites, because I've been writing for so long at this point,” she says. “I have over 30 songs that are not even out. I wish I could put all of them on, but I have to save some room.”
