Gracie Abrams - Good Riddance - Album Review

Dreamy vocals, acoustic guitar, and devastatingly honest storytelling make this the perfect heartbreak album, but maybe not in the way that you would expect. 

Gracie Abrams’ debut album Good Riddance tells the story of a breakup from the perspective of the person who left. The opening track ‘Best’ sets the tone for an album that will have you reaching for a box of tissues and your favorite old blanket. The song is packed with intricate details that make you feel as if you are experiencing everything with her, especially in the long, cathartic bridge. The line ‘I was never the best to you’ is the first of many occasions throughout this album that we hear the 23-year-old singer take responsibility for the destruction of the relationship.

‘I know it won't work’ continues the themes of lyrical vulnerability and honesty. The singer describes wanting her partner to move on as she knows that she is not good for them while struggling to move on herself. This is best portrayed in the breathtaking line: ‘I’m your ghost right now, your house is haunted’. After just two tracks, it is easy to sense a theme of a woman in her twenties trying to figure out what to let go of and what to hold onto and finding herself in the process.

‘I’m a rollercoaster, you’re a dead end street’ is the opening line to the third track ‘Full Machine’, and sums the song up perfectly. The feelings of sadness and distress are evident in her soft voice and this only intensifies a couple of tracks later as she sings the song's title ‘I should hate you’ with a shaky voice. 

Almost every song on this album is telling the same story: A good relationship that fell apart because she did not feel the same anymore. It would have been interesting to hear more variation in the storytelling as she is phenomenal at it and songs like ‘Amelie’ and ‘The Blue’ that stray from the main topic really shine and stand out, but I can appreciate that this album feels like a snapshot of a very specific time in her life and she keeps your attention throughout with her devastating honesty.

Aaron Dessner has displayed his incredible skill for producing music of this genre in the past, including working with Taylor Swift to produce her sister albums Folklore and Evermore, and I could not imagine a better fit for the album. Each song feels like a haunting lullaby that makes you want to curl up and listen to it on a rainy day.

Things start to look up towards the end of the album, starting with the song ‘Difficult’ which displays a more upbeat production as she sings about growing up and moving on but still fighting the temptation to go back to what she knows she should let go of. The following track ‘This is what the drugs are for’ mixes a darker sound with Gracie's raw vocals and an overall theme of getting used to something but not getting over it. The production begins to feel lighter towards the end of the song which could represent her finally beginning to heal.

In an album filled with sadness and self-reflection, the songwriter gives listeners one shining moment of joy with ‘The Blue’, a song made up of the sweetest soft vocals, bright production, and hope. This track is about finally being ready to fall in love again and ignoring feelings of doubt, like when she questions ‘what if you’re my weakness?’. 

The final track ‘Right now’ serves a sense of closure that feels needed at the end of this album. The sound of the piano and the cozy production make this song feel almost nostalgic, which fits flawlessly with the song's themes of feeling homesick and the loss that comes with getting older and moving away from your family. After listening to Gracie’s frustration with finding herself throughout this album, ending with the line ‘I feel like myself right now’ feels like the perfect comfort. 

Paramore - This Is Why - Album Review

This Is Why is an authentic portrayal of the life of a millennial post-lockdown, trying to heal and being faced with the boredom that comes with growing up and getting better.

As opposed to the band’s previous album After Laughter, which was full of joyful sounds and aesthetics to juxtapose the more gloomy lyrics, This Is Why displays the band going back to their roots of unapologetic angst. 

Vocalist Hayley Williams, 34, frequently uses monotone talk-singing throughout this album to depict the melancholia that is laced throughout the record. Unfortunately, this often leaves little room for the singer to fully display the impressive vocal range that we know she has. 

The album kicks off with a strong introduction from Zac Farro on the drums, who continues to shine throughout every track on this reasonably drum-heavy album. The title track eases you in with light vocals from Hayley and a catchy chorus. Beginning the album with the line “If you have an opinion, maybe you should shove it, or maybe you could scream it” gives listeners the immediate impression that the band has something important to say on this record, ensuring they have your undivided attention from the get-go. 

Just as you are beginning to theorize what kinds of political messages and realisations may be scattered throughout the album based on the lyrics of the first track, you are hit with The News. This song describes the feeling of wanting to stay informed in world events but feeling exhausted by the endless tragedies. The repetition of “a war” in the first verse replicates how it can feel sometimes to watch the news and keep up-to-date with world events. Many different bands, and artists in general, have taken a more political route in recent years. It feels as if many just do it to remain “relevant” and to appear in touch with the general public, and few do it simply because it is something that they are genuinely passionate about. I believe Paramore to be one of the latter few, but this song was lacking in any hard-hitting messages that we have not already heard plenty of times at this point and I would have liked to see them push it a bit further.

Running Out Of Time depicts the feeling of anxiety that comes with comparing your own progress and achievements with others who seem as if they are far ahead of you, both in the lyrics and in the music itself. The quick-tempo drumbeat is reminiscent of a heartbeat speeding up and the low vocals in the verses build further on this feeling of anxiety. The lyricism on this track in particular is an excellent example of the band’s talent for bringing humour and sarcasm into the more gloomy topics.

In comparison, the repetitive chorus in C’est Comme Ça leaves much to be desired, but this may well be an intentional choice to represent how repetitive a mundane life can feel. The track makes up for it with a strong drumbeat and a catchy riff and the fact that it is likely the most relatable song on the album, as many people have found post-lockdown that healing can unfortunately be incredibly boring.

Once we approach the second half of the album, we finally get to hear Hayley flex her phenomenal vocal ability, with her angelic falsetto sound in Liar and the way she floats between highs and lows with ease on Thick Skull. This later part of the record feels overall vulnerable, with more personal details of the complexity of self-healing rather than the more general world issues that are discussed in the earlier half. 

Thick Skull is a slow yet raw and emotional ending for the album. If you were hoping to come out of This Is Why with any sense of comfort or closure, you will likely be disappointed. The song appears to describe a person with a need to try and fix the people around them whilst continuously making the same mistakes in their own life. 

Although we end on a low note, sometimes it is enough comfort to know that others are experiencing similar struggles to you. This Is Why is an album filled with unease and anxiety, which is exactly what many of us need right now.

...