Everyone who has ever met me knows that my bloodstream is 90% Gracie Abrams lyrics and 10% everything else that normal college students are focused on. I have a giant poster of Gracie on my closet door and prints of her albums taped to almost every wall in my apartment. I can frequently be found in my black Gracie star hoodie, and if my AirPods are in, I’m likely listening to Gracie in some form. In case it wasn’t clear yet, I love Gracie Abrams, and I pride myself on being a fan since minor (Yes, I’m an OG, and I promise I’m not lying!). And while absolutely every song she’s ever made is in my daily music rotation, her 2021 EP This Is What It Feels Like is my favorite musical project of all time. My friend Izzy calls me the CEO of This Is What It Feels Like; it’s that serious.
Gracie’s songs, be it a popular one or a deep cut, are deeply emotional, raw, and vulnerable. You could argue that this is the case for most artists, but Gracie’s music is a different breed of emotional. Why? Because Gracie emotions, as I like to call them, are identified and discussed in a brutally specific way. Gracie possesses a rare ability to pinpoint exact, seemingly unidentifiable feelings and states of being in her songwriting. She then turns them into lyrics that destroy you. As an emotionally-driven and sensitive young woman who has always struggled to articulate the massive spectrum of emotions I internalize on a daily basis, this is what made me gravitate towards Gracie the instant I heard “I miss you, I’m sorry” at the tender age of 15.
This Is What It Feels Like is the most Gracie Abrams project to ever exist, because, to put it plainly, it is the thesis statement of her entire career thus far. Sorry, Good Riddance fans, but you know I’m right. TIWIFL is a 12-song musical masterpiece that is tender, honest, and real. It captures the universal experience of being emotionally off your rocker in the most elegant and articulate way I’ve ever heard in the world of music, and I listen to a lot of albums.
Feeling emotional about how much you love your best friend? Listen to “Feels Like.” Overcome with self-hatred? Try “Camden.” Struggling with the idea of growing up? Add “Older” to your playlist. Tired of waiting for someone to change? “Wishful Thinking” will be your new jam. Exhausted from feeling alone in the world all the time? “Augusta” and “Alright” will 100% become part of your Spotify Wrapped. Does nostalgia kill you? “Painkillers” is the song for you. I could go on and on.
If you ask almost any OG Gracie fan about TIWIFL, they’ll probably say something like: “It should have been marketed as an album rather than an EP.” I agree with this statement wholeheartedly; the project is just as long, if not longer, than most albums. In past interviews, Gracie has stated that she didn’t want TIWIFL to be labeled as her debut album. To her, it feels like fragments of her life and not necessarily something cohesive. From a listener’s perspective, though, the project is the definition of cohesive: every song deals with overpowering and suffocating feelings in some form, and the production of each one falls into the same indie-bedroom pop lane. And the older I get, the more I believe that the fragmentation Gracie describes is actually the project’s biggest selling point. Emotions themselves, including the overall art of struggling, are often fragmented and confusing. TIWIFL communicates this complexity beautifully.
Gracie has said that she was “quite dissociated” when she was writing TIWIFL. While some people criticize the depressiveness of the project, especially in the songs towards the end, the project as a whole captures the terrifying feeling of dissociation to a tee, proving that only an early 20-something woman could have written the project. The authenticity of TIWIFL is what makes it so important to me. I admire Gracie’s willingness to put herself out there as a form of emotional processing, because TIWIFL has since comforted thousands of other listeners all over the world who are able to see themselves represented in Gracie’s pain. To that end, I would be remiss if I didn’t share some of my favorite lyrics from the project to illustrate what I’m trying to convey here:
- “Bet you wish you never even met me. I don’t blame you, broke your every heartbeat.” – “Rockland”
- “All of me, a wound to close, but I leave the whole thing open. I just wanted you to know I was never good at coping.” – “Camden”
- “Meet you back in the wreckage, right where you left it. Do you regret how I see you now?” – “Wishful Thinking”
- “I went quiet and you got cold. Guess that happened when we got older.” – “Older”
- “You know I’d cry my eyes out ‘til I’m empty.” – “Better”
- “When the weight of the world feels so close, it’s only me.” – “Hard To Sleep”
- “I called you out and labeled you a problem.” – “Painkillers”
- “For tonight, I’m just not alright.” – “Alright”
On This Is What It Feels Like, Gracie tells listeners exactly what these hyper-specific, layered emotions feel like. She explores what it means to feel and how specific feelings are expressed. Most importantly, she teaches us how to process heavy emotions, and builds credibility throughout the project by affirming that feeling is a collective experience, and it’s okay if we struggle to process what feels suffocating and lonely. This Is What It Feels Like provides nothing short of lyrical medication to anyone who presses play. For me, I know that no matter what’s going on in my life, Gracie will steady me and make me feel less alone. And hasn’t that always been Gracie’s goal as an artist with a platform? Better yet, isn’t that what life is all about? Making someone feel less alone, which makes it easier to keep pushing.