Mckenna Grace is a sixteen-year-old actress known mainly for playing the young versions of our favorite fictional characters, from Emma Swan (Once Upon a Time) to Theo Crain (The Haunting of Hill House). She’s also been recognized for her Emmy-nominated performance in The Handmaid’s Tale, as well as her remarkable resemblance to fellow actress Kiernan Shipka. But some of this young starlet’s talent has been hovering just under our radars. Grace has been releasing pop punk anthems since 2021, and her songs are too good to continue unnoticed.
Her first single “Haunted House” was released as a part of the Ghostbusters: Afterlife soundtrack, appearing during the film’s end credits. Grace penned the song alongside fellow actress Lily Kincade during the pandemic and describes the feeling of being haunted by the memories of a loved one. “We were living then, but we die now/ The silence used to be so loud,” she laments, “So glad that I can hear my sound/ ‘Cause a ghost never leaves a haunted house.” It epitomizes the feelings of grief and loss, even if the person you’re mourning is still alive. “You could take it as a breakup song, but it could also be about a friend or a family member or any kind of relationship that’s ended,” she said in an interview with Entertainment Tonight. The slow lament’s vulnerable lyrics and catchy chorus were only the beginning for the singer-songwriter.
She has since released three non-album singles, “do all my friends hate me?” “You Ruined Nirvana,” and “Self Dysmorphia,” and an EP, Bittersweet 16, which debuted on March 3rd. All of her songs focus on mental health, loss, and heartbreak. Some notable lyrics include “She’s mature for her age, but too young for sixteen/ With so much potential/ Was it accidental?/ And God hid it in her somewhere in her she can’t reach” (“Ugly Crier”) and “Another year full of static, then June feels so tragic/ I’ll lie right here/ Less melodramatic, more anticlimactic” (“Bittersweet 16”).
Mckenna Grace is filling the pop punk princess void that’s existed for quite a long time. While she’s still packing her schedule with acting roles, her music continues to improve in a way that I find much more intriguing. So the next time you’re not sure what to play, throw on a Mckenna Grace song. It might just be the anthem you’ve been waiting for.