Sadie Jean on Taking ‘Early Twenties Torture’ on the Road

PHOTOS BY LEXI YOB

As Sadie Jean rolled her luggage into a Brooklyn photo studio, she felt immediately recognizable, much like the voice listeners have come to know through her songs: warm, vulnerable, and disarmingly open. As we introduced ourselves, she sorted through outfits for the shoot, deciding between pairs of black boots and pieces she would wear later that night for her sold-out show at Baby’s All Right. 

A few weeks later, Sadie was preparing for a different set of shows across a full North American headline tour. Following runs opening for Snow Patrol, Rod Wave, and Lauren Spencer Smith, along with a headline tour across Europe, Sadie Jean is now bringing “Early Twenties Torture” to eleven cities, beginning at New York’s Bowery Ballroom and closing at Los Angeles’ El Rey Theatre in June.

Released in October 2025, “Early Twenties Torture” captures the uncertainty, longing, joy, and confusion of early adulthood with the diaristic honesty that has defined Sadie Jean’s songwriting. The album lingers in that liminal place between girlhood and whatever comes next — a place she describes as “stumbling your way into becoming who you are.” As she takes those songs on the road, she is inviting audiences not just into a concert, but into the emotional and visual world she has built with her album.

PHOTOS BY LEXI YOB

Pleaser: Your debut album Early Twenties Torture was released in October — what does this project represent to you at this point in your life?

Sadie Jean: I wrote the first song when I was 20 and finished the last at 23, so the album really traces these years in real time. It feels like an honest and emotional, fun and chaotic time capsule of that period in my life. It holds so many versions of me and so many experiences, and it’s really special to now have it out in the world!

Looking back on your early twenties, how did that period shape both your songwriting and the themes that define this album?

SJ: I tend to stay focused on one person or one feeling for a long time, sometimes for a year or more, and those experiences can end up shaping a whole group of songs. With “Early Twenties Torture,” it was the first time I had been single in years. I was processing a breakup, and suddenly I was writing about new people and new experiences, even situationships for the first time. It makes this album feel more colorful. It opened up my world creatively and emotionally in a new way.

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Sadie Jean’s songs often hold heartbreak and hope in the same breath, previously embodied in “Locksmith,” her follow-up to her viral hit “WYD Now?.” Though the relationship that inspired the song went a different way, its longing continues to resonate with listeners. 

Early Twenties Torture sees these themes grow into acceptance and assuredness. The album opener “I Tried” begins with, “Took a break, needed space/ I could’ve begged you to stay/ But if this is really what you want/ Then who am I to say you’re wrong?” It hits because it’s honest and something so many people have or will experience with someone they have loved.

You’re starting your tour at Bowery Ballroom — how does it feel to begin this next chapter back in New York?

SJ: Every time I play New York, I get nostalgic and think about how much time has passed. I really did get my start at NYU — it’s where I found a creative community for the first time, and where I ended up making my first single. I met Grace Enger and David Alexander there, we wrote it together, and everything kind of unfolded from there. We even dropped out together. 

I saw Holly Humberstone at Bowery Ballroom my sophomore year, and I remember standing in the crowd thinking, “I want to play here. I’m going to play here.” So it’s wild that it’s actually happening.

How are you approaching building your setlist and shaping the show?

SJ: I’m definitely a little nervous to finalize the setlist because it’s so hard to narrow things down.This is the most music I’ve had out, so choosing is tough. I’m mostly playing songs from the album, but I’m also finding ways to weave in songs from my first EP. On tour in Europe, I did a surprise song each night using origami fortune tellers to pick which EP track I’d play, which was a lot of fun. I’m thinking about ways to bring that back. More than anything, I want the show to feel intimate and personal, with people leaving feeling like they know me a little better.

What can fans expect from the show?

SJ: I definitely have a lot of sad songs, that’s kind of the vibe, but the audiences are always so kind that it ends up feeling like a really safe space. People can come, sing along, and sit with their own emotions. I try my best to be really open onstage with what the songs are about and where I’m at now, so I hope people come in open and ready to feel something.

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Beyond the songs themselves, Early Twenties Torture contains a distinct visual language of pink-tiled bathrooms, getting-ready rituals, old photographs of lost loves, and nail polish shades assigned to each track. Across music videos and visualizers, Sadie Jean turns ordinary moments of girlhood into part of the album’s emotional landscape, playful, vulnerable, stylish, and intimate. 

The album cover shows Sadie Jean cocooned on the floor of a bathroom, because when you’re a girl there’s few safer places than the warmth of a bath or fixing your makeup in the mirror. The world is striking because it’s so easy to picture yourself inside of it.

PHOTOS BY LEXI YOB

You have created such a distinct world with this album — how did you approach the visual side, and how will that translate to the live shows?

SJ: The visuals for this album feel very authentic to me. I worked with my friend Sofia Ziman, who I met at NYU. We’ve been collaborating since we were students shooting in the NYU photography rooms. She even shot the cover for my first single. 

For the album artwork, I had a vision of a pink tiled bathroom, and once we found one, it shaped everything. We revealed the track-list on different bottles of nail polish, and now that idea is carrying into the live shows. I’m even encouraging fans to dress in the different nail polish colors. It’s the first time I’ve created a visual world people can step into.

Is there a song from the album you’re especially excited to perform live?

SJ: I love performing all of them, but “Somebody’s Everything” is one of my favorites. It’s emotional and feels cathartic live, especially the bridge. It really lands for me. I also love “Move On First”. There’s a moment where I get to hit the drums, which is fun. Every song has its own place in the set, which makes performing each of them really special. 

Your songwriting is so intimate and based on personal experiences — what does it feel like to take that on the road and hear fans sing those moments back to you?

SJ: During my first year of touring, I remember being confused about why I suddenly missed my high school ex so much. It felt random and intense, and I realized it was because I was singing about him every night with a room full of people who connected to that feeling, so I was bringing up those emotions again and again.

Over time, I’ve learned how to tap into those emotions for the show without carrying them with me afterward. It’s a special experience, especially when I meet people and hear how they relate to the songs. It puts into perspective how much bigger they’ve become than just part of my own story.

Has hearing those interpretations ever changed how you see your own songs?

SJ: Totally. Every time someone shares how they connect to a song, it blows my mind. There are so many moments where you feel like you’re the only person who feels a certain way, and then you realize you’re not. With “Locksmith,” people have told me they got married because of it or that it brought them and an ex back together, and I’m always like, wow, that wasn’t my experience at all, but that’s amazing.

Beyond New York, are there any stops on the tour you’re especially looking forward to?

SJ: I grew up in Orange County, so my hometown show is the El Rey Theatre in LA. I played my first headline show back in Orange County at The Constellation Room, so having everyone there again now is a full circle moment. It’ll be special to play these songs for my friends and family who have been coming to my shows since the beginning.

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In just a few years, Sadie Jean has traded dorm rooms for greenrooms, penned songs of heartache and hope, and she doesn’t show any sign of slowing down. Later this year, after headlining across North America, she’ll be headed back to the UK and Europe opening for Ruel. We can’t wait to see where she goes and all of the new stories that she’ll tell.