GRACIE ABRAMS - Daughter From Hell

If you've written about fifteen fairly introspective songs, plan to record them and want them to sound like a National record, all you have to do is call up Aaron Dessner, and the end result will certainly be pretty good (if a touch repetitive). What's more, Dessner often brings along a friend or relative for the ride, be it Bon Iver, Marcus Mumford, or his brother Bryce, exactly as happens on the new album by Gracie Abrams. This time Taylor Swift isn't involved, but only because she'd already taken part in the previous record, when the two American singer-songwriters recorded "us." together and Abrams was picked to open a string of dates on the pyrotechnic Eras Tour. "Daughter From Hell" isn't the first collaboration between Abrams and Dessner, who wrote and produced it together (with a few additional contributions), but compared to previous projects (the bestseller "The Secret Of Us", the earlier "Good Riddance" and much of "This Is What It Feels Like") the feeling this time is that Gracie has truly made the definitive leap in quality.

Across the sixteen tracks included there are reflective lyrics and shadowy melodies, driven now by acoustic guitars ("Death Wish", the aching "Good Reason" and "Sober"), now by piano ("The Knife", the more upbeat "Men Like You", "Broke My Heart", "Mews"), the usual reverence for Swift (listen for instance to "Minibar", which tries to pick up the pace for a couple of minutes) and clear affinities – hardly new ones – with Olivia Rodrigo ("Look At My Life") and Lorde ("Hit The Wall").
What breaks up the pace, above all, is the title track, the album's standout, built on simple electric guitar figures (electricity, at last, even if the mood remains fairly subdued throughout) and a few thrilling crescendos that Abrams is skilled at climbing with her voice, creating perfect whispering pop song moments (the ending of "Humming" is a prime example). Dessner's touch, whatever instrument he happens to be playing, is as unmistakable as ever, though it leaves a couple of genuinely negligible moments along the way ("Imaginary Friend", "Afflictions"). Bon Iver features on "Broke My Heart" and "Humming", while Marcus Mumford, on "What If It's Right?", returns the favour for Gracie's appearance on "Badlands" (from the recent "Prizefighter").

Even though the "Folklore" / "Evermore" pairing remains the project she keeps drawing inspiration from most heavily, with "Daughter From Hell" Gracie Abrams delivers a new chapter of intimate, confessional indie-folk that, alongside her familiar acoustic minimalism, pairs a (successful) attempt to refine and broaden her artistic language, exploring more expansive, layered sonic territory, often underpinned by more complex string arrangements. You can sense the desire to move beyond the idea of "bedroom pop" and embrace a more mature indie-(pop)-folk, one capable of filling both the intimacy of a bedroom listen and the scale of an arena. An unfiltered exploration that begins to fully define the singer-songwriter's complex transition into adulthood, freeing her from any burdensome comparisons so she can finally just be herself, vulnerability and all.

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23/07/2026