Gracie Abrams’ 16-Song Daughter from Hell Draws Mixed Review for Dark Themes and Thin Identity
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Jul 13
Gracie Abrams’ 16-Song Daughter from Hell Draws Mixed Review for Dark Themes and Thin Identity
3 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Jul 13
Summary
Daughter from Hell, Gracie Abrams’ third album, is framed as a 16-track plunge into knives, blood, ghosts and wreckage, using that imagery to probe blame, pain and responsibility.
The review says the 26-year-old’s goth-leaning turmoil clashes with music that stays quivering and pretty, with Aaron Dessner’s Folklore-like acoustics and Bon Iver features reinforcing familiar indie-pop textures.
Standouts include Broke My Heart, Men Like You and the age-gap drama Death Wish, while the title track, Good Reason and the Marcus Mumford duet What If It’s Right? are criticized as generic or cloying.
Abrams is credited with influencing Olivia Rodrigo and echoing Lorde, Phoebe Bridgers and Taylor Swift, but the review argues that three albums in she still lacks a clearly distinct artistic voice.
Audrey Hobert’s near-absence after co-writing six songs on 2024’s The Secret of Us is cast as telling: her lone credit on Minibar briefly adds the individuality the album otherwise misses.