Music Review: Gracie Abrams confronts crises on ‘Daughter From Hell’

Crises loom across singer-songwriter Gracie Abrams’ third album, “Daughter from Hell,” out Friday.

A knife — stabbed in the heart or stuck in her side — appears as a repeated motif. “Hell” takes on different forms; it’s an insult thrown in “Sober” and a place she breaks away from in the title track. The project finds Abrams in a darker place than her previous two records. But by employing a broader array of instruments and production styles, the resulting 16 tracks live up to the bigger arenas she now fills, even if many of the songs feel like a return to her introspective form.

Electric guitar opens the title track, where Abrams’ layered voice longs for the traits of her mother: “And I want your patience / I want your grace / I want your sugar,” she sings. Aaron Dessner, a collaborator on Abrams’ previous projects, cowrites and produces across the album. Here, his touch is felt in the guitar riffs that build toward the song’s midpoint, and the shaker and tambourine that fill them out.

The pair flex across the tracks; Abrams’ poetic language only sometimes tripping on itself. On the acoustic guitar and piano-set ballad “Death Wish,” she reflects on a fractured relationship. “How long will you give me?” she pleads before the pace picks up. “‘Til you twist the knife with a smile while you kill me?”

“The Knife,” a highlight, immediately follows as Abrams examines her own affinity for recklessness. Her voice, occasionally lowered to a bedroom-pop whisper (fans of her early work will be drawn to the lilting “Good Reason” and the sweet and synthy “Afflictions”), has strengthened since her restrained debut, 2023’s “Good Riddance.” As the track builds — starting as a stripped back piano ballad, before turning itself over to drums, electric guitar and a 21-piece orchestra — so does her confidence. The influence of Phoebe Bridgers is felt in that second-half surge.

The anxious “Look at My Life” (co-produced by Dan Nigro) carries some of the same fast-paced energy of her song “Risk.” This time the focus is on her mental health, and the disassociation required of her only-growing fame, rather than the more universal thrill of a new crush.

“Mini Bar,” written with friend and “Sue Me” hitmaker Audrey Hobert, offers some levity, both with its buoyant sound and cheeky lyrics. Backing vocals from Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon add dimension to a few tracks, including “Broke My Heart,” while a feature from Marcus Mumford fills out “What if it’s right?” Actor Paul Mescal, Abrams’ boyfriend, cowrites “Imaginary Friend.”

Lyrically, the beautiful “Humming” is the album’s most ambitious. Abrams is confronted with the heavy realities of the world that’s raising her. “Do we stay numb? / But you can’t when you’ve seen / How they all get off on our grieving,” she sings, her words chosen carefully. As they always have been.

___

“Daughter from Hell” by Gracie Abrams

Four stars out of five.

On Repeat: “The Knife,” “Men Like You,” “Humming”

Skip it: “Sober”

For fans of: Ballads, rainy afternoons