Cruza - Live in New York

In a room full of crowded people, Adam Kain stood strong at the center. Flanked by his most entrusted counterparts, the foursome erupted into a serenade that infiltrated the ears of anyone within the vicinity, causing an immediate pause that reflected in lips turning up in the corners blossoming into full blown smiles. 

Roughly eleven months ago, the group known as Cruza had just wrapped their first ever tour. Exhausted but overjoyed, frontman Adam Kain and guitarist Charity Joy Brown spoke with The Pit London about their experiences and their goals. They prophesied their collective uprooting that would result in a reunion, uniting them in the land of dreams — Los Angeles where they’d continue to make music together but in a way that would feel like the start of something new. 

This particular performance was held at Dumbo House on the eve of their first ever festival set at Afropunk. They wove through their set list expertly but not without an energy that reflects their naivety in the most authentic way, the two states of being mixing to create a tension that reflects a group of artists on the verge of smashing through obstacles on their version of a hero’s journey. 

One song stood out as Kain paused to introduce it. Dragonfly is the product of the four finally creating music all in one room, together at one time. “The music communicates for us, we each have specific musical tastes…so Dragonfly is the one song where we feel like each of our individual preferred genres shine in a way….what we’re individually hearing comes together and turns into something beautiful,” Kain explains post set.

It’s a precious thing to catch a group of young artists at this stage of metamorphosis. You can almost see what they’re going to transform into but like a dragonfly, their metamorphosis is actually an emergence, evolving into what they were meant to be all along. 

You can find Cruza and their discography here.