From her days on Soundcloud to the present day, American singer-songwriter Gracie Abrams has released her album debut, titled “Good Riddance.” Abrams has expressed herself through singles, such as “Feels Like” and “Rockland.” But now she has finally released an album. Her “Good Riddance” debut is proof she is one step closer to her growth as an artist.

Abrams announced her album to be released on Feb. 24, 2023. Additionally, she released two pieces of music, “Amelie” and “Where do we go now?” periodically as a sneak peek into her world of music soon to be released. Amelie has very repetitive lyrics, but very deep meaning. My interpretation of the piece was a blend of reality and a distant past being meshed into one of a girl attempting to figure her life out. This acoustic piece ultimately sends a simple message with deeper meaning on Abrams’ part. 

Following Abrams’ style of acoustic handwritten pieces, “Difficult” branches out of her typical musical norm. This piece incorporates a variety of lyrics, letting us into her journey as listeners. “Difficult” is a piece about growth as an individual. Gracie Abrams connected this piece to relationships with family and difficulties young people face when growing up. I admire Abrams’ expressiveness lyrically and connection to the difficulties growing up entails. It makes her pieces relatable to young people who listen to her music and makes me personally feel connected to her as an artist. 

Illustrating the subconscious illusion, “This is what the drugs are for,” is a numbingly deep song. Lyrically, this song is about Gracie thinking about her ex and using drugs to numb the pain. Later, the bridge of the song consists of Gracie admitting to herself that she didn’t know what life was like outside of her relationship. Drugs are often seen as solutions in times of trouble, and usage often results in addiction. The contrast Abrams brings to this piece between the real world and her personal experiences makes this piece easy to interpret.

The heartbreaking and metaphoric piece “Fault Line” describes what it is like to recover from heartbreak. The perspective of this song is from Gracie herself and it is an accurate reflection of her period of grieving after a rough relationship. A common theme in this album is relationships and how people learn to grow through pain, adapt to change and overcome obstacles with their romantic partners.

“Good Riddance” became tedious at points. When listening, I would often get bored due to consistencies in rhythm and measured tempo. Personally, I enjoy listening to pieces with contrast and differentiation. One critique I would have for Abrams is to pick up tempo in her pieces to avoid listeners fading in and out of her music. 

Overall, “Good Riddance” was a satisfactory album to listen to. Its consistent themes of relationships, deep sense of perspective and reasonable reflection were both relatable and engaging. The pieces were all significant in their own ways, all telling beautiful stories lyrically. I give this album three stars overall due to the repetition that weighed down the quality of the album.

“Good Riddance:” ★★★☆☆