Rating: 3/5
My favourite nepo-baby is back with a new album, titled Daughter from Hell. This time, she and Aaron Dessner, Gracie’s longtime producer, are picking up the piano a lot more, rather than her trademark plucky fingerstyle acoustic, popular on her album The Secret of Us.
This album, though still filled lyrically with her personal struggles and pitfalls, feels like her most mature work sonically. It’s this contention between the subject matter and the way it is delivered that makes the result a beautiful homage to previous works while also looking like a confident step in her discography.
‘Hit the Wall’ was one of the singles released in the lead-up to the album drop. It’s both my favourite track and, at this point, the most listened to on the album. The contrast between the rich instrumentation and her airy vocals is what she has come to be known for and is what I think sets her apart from other pop singer-songwriters whose outputs tend to read more vanilla.
All this to say I think this album will earn its flowers in due course, as will Gracie, even if some continue to discredit her, citing her nepotism. In fact, I think Gracie has used her name rather sparingly to get where she is, and her talent certainly shines above any special advantages her family might give her. As I sit with this understated, almost hour-long exploration of Gracie’s world, I eagerly await her next work.
