Sad girl pop is all the rage these days, and for good reasons, from young women having many reasons to be sad (particularly in post-Roe America…) to great young female artists who this time aren’t being ruined by overconfident male producers. To the likes of Taylor Swift & Phoebe Bridgers, add Gracie Abrams and her heartbreaking Good Riddance.
The sadness of Good is intimate and honest. The album as a whole leans more towards the stripped down in the likes of the Pharbz-esque storytelling “Difficult” or the struggling confessional “I should hate you”. Yet there are moments of size, such as the big sad girl pop of “Amelie”, the catchier sad anthem “I know it won’t work”, and the growing glow of the closer “Right now”.
Abrams worked with Swift producer Aaron Dessner (of sad-dad fame in The National – Gracie’s actual dad is director J.J. Abrams, who gave us the new Star Wars movies, the new Star Trek movies, and, most importantly, Lost…), and will be touring with Swift & Bridgers; sad girl credentials up the wazoo. Yet even if Good Riddance fits a popular style right now, the emotional album is Gracie Abrams’ own sad story.
