Gracie Abrams - “Good Riddance” Album Review

Story posted March 1, 2023 in Arts & Entertainment by Izzy Charboneau.

Listening to Gracie Abrams’ debut album, “Good Riddance,” feels like reading someone else’s diary in the best way possible.

Abrams, who is known for being the daughter of filmmaker J.J. Abrams and for putting all of her deepest feelings into her music, has released an album that contains an intimate display of navigating difficult relationships while accepting that you’re growing into an adult.

With the release of this album, Abrams is going on a short headline tour soon before joining Taylor Swift for some of her tour dates as an opening act. This is a great move for her, as she definitely makes music for Swifties.

“Good Riddance” was co-written and produced by Aaron Dessner of The National. Dessner has frequently collaborated with Abrams before, and his other credits include producing many songs on Taylor Swift’s albums post-Lover. Dessner has worked with Swift on the albums “folklore,” “evermore,” and most recently on “Midnights.”

Surprisingly, this album doesn’t sound like a direct copy of everything else that Dessner has produced, because he has a distinct sort of productionstyle. And while he produces great music, “Good Riddance” sounds different in a good way.

This album tackles everything from growing up and leaving home to relationship problems to accepting the fact that things are always going to change. In each of the songs, Abrams takes listeners on a journey of sadness and reflection about the different issues in her life.

In tracks like “I know it won’t work” and “I should hate you,” Abrams tells the stories of relationships that seem to be falling apart at the seams. In the lyrics, it almost feels as though she is trying to convince herself that she should walk away from the relationships.

In “Difficult,” she talks about how she feels like she is difficult to deal with, and the issues in several aspects of her life, like relationship problems and moving out of her parents’ house. These sentiments are also echoed in other tracks of the album, like “Right now.”

Much of the album’s theme is relationships issues, many of them sounding like they’re about the same relationship that Abrams knows won’t work out. Songs like “This is what the drugs are for” and “Fault line” show that she knows this person’s flaws and still misses them and wants to be with them.

Abrams has an undeniably beautiful voice, which is showcased on all of the tracks, but much of the album sounds pretty repetitive. It is an album where you can’t always tell when a new song has started because many of them sound the same.

Despite this, there are some tracks that stand out and are different from the rest. “The blue” is one of the ones that stands out because it is a love song when much of the rest of the album seems to be mourning an old relationship.

It is clear that the partnership between Abrams and Dessner is a stellar team, and the pair will likely continue to work together on Abrams’ future projects, which is something to look forward to.

Rating: 7/10

Reviewer’s favorite tracks: “Difficult,” “I should hate you,” and “Full machine”
Reviewer’s least favorite tracks: “Amelie,” and “Will you cry?”

Izzy Charboneau is a second-year majoring in digital and print journalism. To contact her, email ijc5186@psu.edu.