by Max Durante
Like a luna moth drawn to a flame, McKenzie Ellis — better known as Mothica — has found her place in the streaming-age spotlight. Using music as a vehicle to heal from trauma, she has evolved from bedroom dream pop beginnings and edged toward a heavier, nu-metal-tinged sound not unlike that of Poppy and DeathbyRomy on her latest EP, 2026’s Somewhere in Between. Now the 31-year-old songstress is alighting on South Florida to test out her alternative and hardcore chops.
Recording songs on Ableton in her Brooklyn bedroom in the late 2010s, Mothica uploaded them to SoundCloud and gained legions of fans. It was on TikTok where she went viral in June 2020 with “VICES,” a synth-pop bop with catchy and honest lyrics about her favorite wicked behaviors, the ones hardest to kick. A related willingness to open up to interviewers and discuss her struggles with depression, self-harm and addiction provided a direct through line to her music and persona.
Self-made, with no manager, publicist or record label, Mothica had been teasing a heavier turn with the moody electropop vocals of her previous LPs, 2022’s Nocturnal and 2024’s Kissing Death. With Somewhere in the Between, she has embraced metal guitar and dived even deeper lyrically, acknowledging painful life experiences in verse after verse.
On “Evergreen Misery,” she radiates a confessional intensity worthy of Evanescence for the TikTok generation. The dreamlike music video evokes a Resident Evil meets Severance aesthetic, with Mothica entering her own office space — Mothicorp, of which her fans declare themselves “employees” — and letting herself into the basement via eye scan. Her hair half-colored in a frosty icicle shade, she resembles a lost elf trying to navigate a stygian lair while swarmed by lab-coated scientists. Then she comes to in a row of cubicles, as if to ask, which hell is worse?
Although it’s a tour date headlined by nu-metal singer (and Demi Lovato spouse) Jutes, with L.A. alt-rockers wilt also on board, there’s enough kindred spirit here for the lineup to feel like an all-Mothicorp company affair.
Mothica and wilt, opening as special guests for Jutes, perform 6pm Thursday, Sept. 17 at Culture Room in Fort Lauderdale. mothica.com ~ Olivia Feldman
