For Gracie Abrams (Los Angeles, 1990), the label of emerging artist has been getting smaller and smaller. What started with doodles in a used notebook and improvised songs at the age of eight has now transformed into luxury recording studios and worldwide tours with full capacity. A change that summarizes years of work, a lot - too much - of willpower, and an impossible amount of talent. This Friday, when she released her new albumDaughter From Hell, that transformation seemed to become much more evident.
Months - perhaps years - dedicated to the release of the 16 songs that make up this third studio album. Daughter of Hell is its name. A project born from mental exhaustion, from uninterrupted work dynamics, and neglecting her social relationships. The new hell that Abrams speaks of lacks flames. It is not mythological, nor invented. Quite the opposite. It is a space made of doubts, insecurities, and fears, but also tinged with apologies and even regrets. The artist herself confirms the desire to thank and pay tribute to her family - especially her mother - for their resilience during a more than complicated adolescence. Daughter of Hell. Perhaps a rebellious daughter. And, although this is not the main subject on which the American's lyrics are built, it is the driving force that supports the rest of the themes of love and heartbreak that complete this Daughter From Hell.
Hit the Wall and Look at my Life were the first songs released as lead singles. The lyrics "sooner or later it will be discovered / I live in a pattern of emotional collapses" resonate with an audience that recognizes itself unabashedly in her lyrics, especially among the famous Generation Z. Followed by Good Reason and Imaginary Friend, both singles that Abrams herself has teased on social media or exclusive concerts. Because the singer flourishes when the spotlight is on her, when critics recite her name. To understand it, you just have to look at the magnitude of her phenomenon, which now exceeds 30 million monthly listeners on Spotify and, far from diminishing, continues to grow relentlessly.
The album was released this Friday, yes. But tickets for her world tour have been on sale for a while. The Look At My Life Tour, named after one of the songs on her album and with which the artist announces that she is "back in a big way," will take place from December 2nd to May 28th, 2027, when it arrives in Spain: closing her tour with two concerts at the Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona. Of the 36,000 tickets available, only a little less than 100 remain.
It is said that there are no magic formulas to achieve success like hers. But when pop and music divas Olivia Rodrigo and Taylor Swift hire her as their opening act on their tours, the exotic thing would be the opposite. Gracie Abrams has always been a name associated with the biggest names in the industry. The music industry, but also the film industry, because it only takes a look at her last name to link her to Hollywood titan J.J. Abrams. Yes, the filmmaker who masters any genre is the father of the young singer.
Although her talent is not contrived, it is not difficult to find out that her childhood has lacked economic problems that have allowed her to prioritize her musical interests. She herself recounts during an interview: "Nepotism is present in the debate, and rightly so. I had a safety net that allowed me to experiment." Be that as it may, Daughter From Hellnow joinsGood Riddance(2023) andThe Secret of Us(2024) as part of the American's discography alongside more than a dozen singles that propelled her to stardom.
Tones are mentioned from her new album that are rawer and an intimacy that may not have resonated as much in the previous two. And there are those who frame these 16 songs within an identity from which she does not seem to escape. Diverse opinions for the same project. Meanwhile, she continues to grow, sing, pouring out her feelings unabashedly and without complexes. And what if her music repeats itself. And what if her fame began long before touching a microphone. Abrams, who has been in the industry for years, who started by releasing songs on SoundCloud, who has a duet with Taylor Swift, returns with her third album, and her ceiling has not yet been reached. It is not in sight.