Eclectic singer Kate Cosentino talks “Weirdly Normal” ahead of recordBar album release party

Photo by

Turning existential dread about regular life into quirky cringe is Kate Cosentino’s new album Weirdly Normal, with songs like the title track “Weirdly Normal” and “Vision Board” that will remind listeners of their millennial boss who puts cold brew in a Harry Potter tumbler or their friend who follows Weezer on tour. 

Cosentino uses her background as a trained jazz guitarist and The Voice 2023 contestant to sing about growing up as a pop culture enthusiast and someone who had all these visions for how her life was going to go, then realized that you can’t exactly write out the future like you would for a song.

Ahead of her album release party with Melina KB and Lombardy at recordBar on August 14, The Pitch sat down with Cosentino to hear more about what makes her “Weirdly Normal.”

The Pitch: How long has this album been in the works?

Kate Cosentino: Initially, I thought it had only been two and a half years, but I added a voice memo song from 2021, so technically five years, but really two and a half years of working with producers, and then slowly building and recording it. 

Have you noticed any differences between performing these songs live and recording in a studio? 

It took a new form of really finding my niche as an artist and the person I wanted to put forward. I went on The Voice in 2023 and was on Niall Horan’s team, and that happened at the perfect time in my life because I felt like that was really who I am; I’m colorful, I’m fun. So, after that experience and going on the road, creating the album made sense to me because I found the part of that voice I really resonated with the most. It informed what I like to make and what I have to say. 

Being a trained jazz guitarist from a place like Kansas City, where jazz is so important, how was your transition going from jazz to more of an electric pop, modern sound?

It has been such a funny transition because growing up, jazz was always my home and the place where I was most comfortable. I used to take guitar lessons from Danny Embrey, who is a really awesome jazz cat from Kansas City, and my vocal and guitar training definitely stem from that. More recently, though, I realized that when I perform, I still love jazz, but the times when I am having the most fun are when I get to play music I liked as a kid. I’m a huge alternative rock fan, like Weezer and Guitar Hero. I love artists who can have fun on stage, and I realized that is my favorite thing to get to do. I kind of gave myself permission just to be silly. 

Since this is your debut album, how were you able to develop the sound as a whole?

The sound behind the album, if I had to sit and stew about something, was the crossroads I was at. I wanted to make something where I am so excited to listen to it myself. I finally reached a place of age and experience where I have the vocabulary and the skills to make it happen for myself. This was the first time, with full confidence, that recording this much music could be like, ‘Put this technical thing here; I want it to sound like this.’ I felt fully in control of forming the sound. I was pulling a lot of references from Weezer, CAKE, Beck, Alanis Morissette; the kind of late 90s, early 2000s, alternative rock. I wanted to pull from that because I yearn for artists, especially female ones, that are in that fun-loving rock space. Wet Leg and Remi Wolf are modern ones that fit that category for me, so I was pulling from a lot of that as a way to decorate my typical lyrical style. 

Photo by

You’re obviously already known in the music space and have released songs, but how do you think this album acts as a kind of introduction for yourself?

This record is so embarrassingly me. Before I even came up with all of the songs I wanted on this, I knew I wanted my debut album to be called Weirdly Normal because that’s how I feel as a person. I have always felt I sit in this intersection of being friends with people from all walks of life, which I love, but I also sit in this place where I dress so colorful and artsy; then, if you get to know me, yes, I have weird interests, but I am also just a regular girl. The songs are kind of a tell-all of different parts of my life. If you took a diary out of my page, it would be “Weirdly Normal” as a song. I am nerdy and scared to break the rules, but I also had weird-themed parties with my friends. I’m talking about all these really intimate details of my life that I think are relatable, and every song on this record addresses a piece of myself growing up in a different era. I have songs about becoming a working adult and how hard that is, and then I have the nostalgia of being a kid into music and nerd culture, so it’s all little vignettes of myself. 

The first song that came out in January was “Two Kids in a Trench Coat,” and when I wrote that song, it was like in a mania at 12 a.m. I also recognize that there is a bit of millennial cringe, like I had some of that ‘is this funny or cringe?’ but I think the point of this album is that being cringe is being free. I have always been pretty unashamedly into what I am into; I don’t get hater culture. You don’t have to come with me to the anime club. 

The album does deal with issues that I think many people, specifically Gen Z, are experiencing now, but in a more millennial cringe way. Your album points things out in a fun way, but still alludes to the seriousness of it, like AI. 

Yeah, definitely. I would never compare myself to the man, the myth, the legend that is Bo Burnham, but I do feel like every song I have ever written has either a potent political message or commentary on what’s happening around us. I always like to err on the side of humor or immersing the listener in a story, because I think it brings people’s guards down, lets them be in that situation and feel it. The song “Throw Myself at the Wall” is very sarcastic: “We regret to inform you that your application is denied.” How do I get a job in this economy? The job market has been insane. I like singing that song because it’s very tongue-in-cheek; it’s not hypercritical, but it is funny to see people of all ages relate to it. I wanted to make a record that really was a time capsule. 

What was your biggest inspo for this album?

I feel like this album is like I were sitting on my bed in my middle school childhood room, looking at the posters, my journals, my hopes and my dreams, but also just everything I was into. It’s really just inspired by that #y2k dreamer. A consistent theme in my life and everything I write is just discovering the reality of adulthood, or the reality of becoming someone who does music full-time. I’m trying to capture, yes, this amazing, yes, it’s so cool, but also processing how different the reality is from what I put on my vision board. 

What are you proudest of? 

I love Tony [Cianchetta] and Jo [MacKenzie]; their production on this record is such a treat. Obviously, I co-produced a lot of it and worked with them to make the sounds happen, but to me, production is such an art form. I am so excited about all of the different sounds. Getting to have fun and play around and capture the joy of that was really important to me. It was very lightning in a bottle, and I am very proud of it capturing the spirit of following the fun. 

I’m also proud of the sonic landscape because, yes, the album is more alt rock with some pop and punk inspo, but I have never listened to one genre, and I don’t really know how to stick to one. I’m happy that it’s a smattering of different things, and I think it makes a cool collage.

Tickets are available here for the Weirdly Normal album release party at recordBar on August 14 at 7:00 p.m.