Rising “Valley pop girl” Kylie Cantrall is getting ready to bring her nostalgic pop sound and Y2K vibes to the stage with a debut headlining tour kicking off tomorrow (Sept. 25) and Love at First Listen has the inside scoop.
After playing the titular role of Red in Disney’s 2024 hit musical fantasy film Descendants: The Rise of Red and reprising her role this summer in Descendants: Wicked Wonderland, Kylie signed with Universal Music Group and released her latest solo project, ‘Valley Girl Problems,’ via Republic Records in July. Produced by Tricky Stewart (Rihanna, Tyla) and featuring co-writes with Jim Lavigne (Ava Max) and Tayla Parx (Ariana Grande), the nine-track EP, which Kylie’s dubbed an “emotional journey,” gives her the chance to set the record straight (if you’ve seen all of the chatter about that [ex-]BF drama, you’ll get why) and deliver an honest look at heartbreak, betrayal, and self-discovery as a young adult.
Kylie’s ‘Valley Girl Problems’ will soon become North American Girl Problems as the burgeoning star kicks off her first headline tour across the U.S. and Canada this weekend. She’s already proven she has what it takes to dominate the stage, selling out her first-ever headlining release show at The Roxy in LA and performing as part of last summer’s Descendants/Zombies: Worlds Collide Tour.
Amid rehearsals, Kylie sat down for a virtual press conference hosted by °1824 and shared exclusive insights on her artistic journey and translating the Valley Girl vibe to the stage.
On the significance of selling out her first headline show in her hometown:
“I’ve seen a bunch of different shows at The Roxy throughout my life … so to be able to have my moment at such an iconic place, especially as an LA girl, it was so, so cool and very special.”
Her reaction to hearing fans sing her lyrics back to her:
“I was so taken back. ‘Space Between,’ which is the ballad on the project, got leaked accidentally, and I think in a way I was really sad. [T]hat Roxy show … was before the EP came out, so people didn’t know the new stuff, but they knew ‘Space Between’ from that clip, and that was the first time I heard them singing the lyrics and [saw] their faces and them connect[ing] to it. That song is so deeply personal and it always felt like, oh, this is my experience, my story, my song, and then when I saw them in the crowd singing it and getting emotional, [I] was like, oh my God, like, this is not my song at all. Like, it’s for everyone. It’s for everyone who has gone through the worst heartbreak ever, whether it be a friend or an ex or whoever that may be.”
On finding the balance between putting on a show and being in the moment with fans:
“This is like, the thing that I have been waiting for for so long and every aspect [of prep] I’ve been enjoying so far. … I think looking at the arena tour I did last year with Descendants, that was a giant show on such a big scale and it was like props and lighting, and I think that was the first time I learned the importance of lighting and how that can impact a show, and we had these giant screens and it just immerses you in the world. So, I’m trying to take elements … that make it feel bigger than life but then applying it to a more intimate room because I’m going to be performing in theatres. And I think there’s something so special about that because in an arena, you can’t see people’s faces. Like, there’s this separation that is, you know, it’s cool and it’s electric, but it feels much more like you’re putting on a show versus when I did The Roxy [and] it was like, oh, we’re all partying together. Like, this is just a group hang! It felt like there wasn’t that separation, so I’m excited to be able to kind of combine those two worlds.”
What the Valley Girl Problems tour will be “giving”:
“It’s definitely giving Valley core. … It’s going to give very fierce, very sparkly, girly, but then also personal at the same time.”
For more scoop, Kylie has been uploading rehearsal footage to her Instagram — check out a few snippets below!
View this post on Instagram
View this post on Instagram
View this post on Instagram
After kicking off in Minneapolis, the Valley Girl Problems Tour will travel coast to coast, making a Canadian pit stop in Toronto on Sept. 29 before wrapping with another can’t-miss LA hometown show at The Novo on Oct. 22. Grab tickets at kyliecantrall.com.
View this post on Instagram
Keep it locked to Love at First Listen for our coverage of Kylie’s Toronto show!
