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Gracie Abrams’ third studio album ‘Daughter From Hell’ sees the 26-year-old navigate her way through the realities of adulthood, fame and relationships on a stunningly introspective record, but one that leaves you with lingering questions, namely how has hell been raised?

On 16 introspective tracks on Abrams’ journey as a ‘Daughter From Hell, the artist utilises knives as a recurring motif as a metaphor for pain. It’s a record that finds Abrams more introspective than ever before, seemingly finding herself at a little bit of a crossroads as she navigates her way through adulthood.

It’s perhaps of little surprise that Abrams has found her songwriting process to be a time of peace and reflection. After supporting Taylor Swift on The Eras Tour, her fanbase increased exponentially, and she garnered a couple of Grammy Award nominations for ‘Best New Artist’ and for her collaboration with Swift on ‘Us’. While her megahit ‘That’s So True’ became her first Billboard No. 1, she’s now made the ascent to arena headlining status. The album is essentially a mechanism for helping Abrams reflect on her life of pop stardom and provides quite the insight into Abrams’ mind.

On the album’s opening track and lead single – 'Hit The Wall' – there’s a pure vulnerability to Abrams’ vocals as she sings, 'I'm not a problem that you can solve' and 'I wanna be stable, but I do cave', seemingly highlighting the chaos of an emotional burnout backed by light synths and a driving piano line. “Sooner or later, you’ll find out I live in a pattern of breakdowns," and by the end, she finds herself uttering the words "I just” without being able to finish the lyric, as if she’d reached the point of despair. It’s emotional storytelling, and she’s a master of it.

‘Death Wish’ sees Abrams complemented by a rich acoustic-driven riff that’s almost loop-like in nature with a spacious yet prominent piano line in the arrangement. She sings, "How long will you give me? Until you twist the knife with a smile while you kill me?” seemingly singing with hints of anger and resignation, highlighting a faux fantasy of a relationship’s staged positivity “You ask me to dance if there’s someone around” while simultaneously capturing the poisonous reality behind closed doors – "You don't look the same when I look at you now. ”.

‘The Knife’ continued the knife angle for Abrams. The song itself is an ambient, piano-heavy ballad with Abrams’ emotive vocals at the heart of the arrangement, a steady, driving drum beat, and I think there’s an acoustic guitar adding depth to the sound. There’s a sense of urgency in the bridge as Abrams’ vocals soar, a strings section adds a rich, cinematic soundscape to the song’s arrangement, there’s a tempo change as the drumming becomes even tighter and faster, the guitar strumming gains a sense of urgency.

Lyrically, Abrams sounds scarred. “They’re daring me to pull it out; I’ll probably keep it for a lifetime. I’ll probably name it, care for it and claim it,” hinting that those scars, aka the knife itself, will remain with her forever and she laments, “When you go ruin my life in the worst way right at the wrong time when I’ve followed you blind." Then I’ll go out of my mind, shifting my way over the cliffside, taking my chances and rolling the dice. This should be the last time,” she uttered, lamenting with a hint of resignation in her voice how she blindly followed someone and paid the price for it.

‘Daughter From Hell’ feels like Abrams’ most experimental track to date. The track has the feel of an apology letter to her mother, but it remains unclear what she’s apologising for exactly and how she raised hell in the first place. The 26-year-old uses a gritty, distorted guitar in the song’s arrangement to give the title track an unstable feel while singing, “I want to say how much I owe you." It gives the song a grunge-y feel without abandoning the confessional, tender lyrics that listeners come to expect from Abrams.

‘Look At My Life’, which features Dan Nigro as co-producer, sees Abrams lament, "My nightmare actualised; I got what I wanted." It doesn’t sit right," with a rich piano line, punchy drums, and subtle synths that weave in & out of the composition as the 26-year-old sings about her personal struggles. The acoustic-driven ‘Good Reason’ sees Abrams sing, “took a sharp knife, more than once or twice,” pondering why the other person holds so much adoration for her when she’s wrecked with self-doubt. ‘Mews’, backed by a rich string-heavy arrangement and a warm piano line sees Abrams ponder whether a one-sided relationship can survive. The song gains urgency as the strings section gets more urgent and Abrams seemingly second guesses herself, “Did I miss the sign when you’d answer my call? Like it between the lines did one breath say it all?”.

‘Minibar’, written with the artist’s close friend Audrey Hobert, is a fun track with propulsive synths and tight drumming that documents Abrams going to a party on her own, feeling a bit weird and “being with the girls and gossipers”. It’s catchy, it’s fun and it’s destined to be a crowd-pleaser on the 26-year-old’s upcoming tour. ‘Imaginary Friend’, written with Paul Mescal, her boyfriend, is a bit of a juxtaposition from ‘Minibar’, given its acoustic-centric arrangement. However, it’s nonetheless a strong track as Abrams pleads “don’t be a figment of my imagination”, essentially hinting at a one-sided conversation she’s having, but with whom is a little unclear. ‘Afflictions’ is an introspective love song where Abrams explores finding stability with a partner and his family, suggesting “your family feels like family”.

‘Humming’, co-written with Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon, sees Abrams lament the realities of navigating through adulthood with a carefully arranged acoustic-driven approach and a noticeable yet delicate piano line. “What a beautiful dream. When you get so close, you can taste it. But it’s not real long, just an hour of relief,” she laments on the track. The track also references Abrams growing up in Pacific Palisades, a neighbourhood that suffered major damage in the wildfires in January 2025. “Every kid I grew up with has lost their childhood house. No way to make sense of it, it’s why I'm making sound,” she laments. The 26-year-old also touches the disorientation of youth, highlighting “Let me wake up from this horrible dream. Where what feels true is nothing. And there's no one at the top to believe. What a way to feel in your twenties,” she sings.

An emotional, country-tinged ‘What If It’s Right’ with a guest appearance from Marcus Mumford sees Abrams sing about a “sick undertone and a knife cut to the bone", pondering whether she has a future with someone while backed by a twangy guitar and an urgent piano line that provides impetus but gives the vocals and guitar space to breathe in the arrangement.

Overall, ‘Daughter From Hell’ is a record that is finely crafted, is sonically seamless and has a nice indie-pop production. However, the ‘Daughter From Hell’ concept doesn’t quite land. It’s a title that indicates there’s a rebellious, edgy, chaotic energy to the album, but doesn’t truly venture into the explosive territory required to make the “hell” angle stick.

Abrams will return to the UK in 2027 for ‘The Look At My Life Tour’, which begins at Manchester’s Co-op Live. Tickets are available here.