Gen-Z sensation Gracie Abrams has captured young hearts across the world with her enchanting songwriting and relatable songs. She released her first EP during the 2020 lockdown and has since dropped another EP and several singles. Her debut album is set to release on Feb. 24, and her headlining tour begins on March 6 in Chicago and is coming to Boston on March 12. 

Her tour sold out in under an hour, leaving many fans without tickets. She is also opening for 30 of Taylor Swift’s shows during Swift’s record-breaking Eras Tour. So, how exactly did Abrams achieve this level of success before her debut album was even released? Some may claim it is because of her film industry parents, but her fans would say otherwise. 

Swift describes why she loves Abrams’ music to Rolling Stone saying, “Gracie’s writing mixes fragility with introspection in a way that I really relate to. It makes me feel like maybe she and I started writing songs for the same reason, just to try to make sense of how we feel.” 

Whenever Swift gives her gold stamp of approval, that is when artists get big. It happened with Olivia Rodrigo, and now Gracie Abrams is seeing the effects of that endorsement in real-time.  

Abrams started her music journey at eight-years old when she started writing songs. She never liked performing and didn’t dream of becoming a star because of this. Instead, she continued to write songs and sing them in her bedroom until she signed with Interscope and released her first song under the label in 2019 (1). 

“Mean It” describes a fight with her partner where she hears something she wasn’t supposed to, singing “Maybe that thing you said under your breath, you mean it / Holding on to thin lines till we just walk between ‘em.” Her melancholy vocals and simplistic melody bring the listener into her head during the moment.  

After releasing another single, “Stay,” she dropped her first EP, “minor,” in 2020. This 20-minute release expands on Abrams’ youth and trouble with past relationships that were touched upon in her first two singles.  

The most popular song off of this EP, which remains her most streamed song to this day, is “I miss you, I’m sorry” with over 130 million streams on Spotify. The lyrics, “Every corner of this house is haunted / And I know you said that we’re not talkin’ / But I miss you, I’m sorry,” hint at the memory of a previously toxic relationship.  

Abrams also alludes to this in the lines, “I miss fightin’ in your old apartment / Breakin’ dishes when you’re disappointed.” Throughout her music, Abrams discusses toxic relationships where she gets in the way of her own happiness.  

Her second EP, “This Is What It Feels Like” dropped in 2021. This project was a collaboration with Aaron Dessner from The Nationals, who is also known to collaborate with Taylor Swift, specifically on her albums “folklore” and “evermore.” 

“Feels Like” is the top song on this album with 50 million streams on Spotify. This song is a dedication to friendship. She describes it as “[an embodiment of] the beauty of meeting a friend at the right time in both of your lives, and knowing that it is a meaningful friendship that will last” (2). 

Her latest project is her debut album “Good Riddance.” The album has two lead singles, “Where do we go now?” and “Amelie,” which were released Jan. 13 and Feb. 10 respectively. “Where do we go now?” has a slightly addictive quality to it, specifically in the bridge. The song describes letting someone down, because she really wanted to love them but couldn’t, saying “Now I’m half of myself here without you / You’re the best in my life and I lost you.” 

“Amelie” is an LGBTQ+ song describing Abrams’ fascination with a girl named Amelie. She details the heartbreaking story with the lyrics, “Comfortable, handing you my whole life / When all your words felt like a funeral rite.” 

Gracie Abrams is setting a new standard for bedroom pop and bringing millions of people to the genre subsequently.