Gracie Abrams has become one of the revelation artists of recent years. She has achieved this thanks to the emotional epic of songs like ‘That’s So True’, although without being able to shake off comparisons with her colleague and collaborator Taylor Swift. Both share a certain taste for sentimental dramatization, although Abrams still remains too much on the surface of what he is trying to tell.
In ‘Hit the Wall’ he once again resorts to clichés and somewhat prefabricated images. The song tries very hard to convey that Abrams is going through a kind of emotional hell, but the images and metaphors about “crystal fortresses”, “doctors” and “hallucinations” – always related to the therapeutic, mental health or even the clinical, at least the song does follow a specific concept – are too predictable.
It shouldn’t be that way, but in ‘Hit the Wall’ even the reference to Joni Mitchell’s ‘A Case of You’ sounds obvious. At some points, the song is literal (“I want you so badly, but I close off”), while expressions like “I am pattern of breakdowns”, so exaggerated, sound like pure overacted teenage drama. ‘Hit the Wall’ accumulates exaggerated phrases that seek to connect with the listener from the first second. And no, this song is certainly not a “problem to be solved.”
Compositionally, ‘Hit the Wall’ is somewhat more elegant, although still not too personal. Its mix of pop, indie folk and ethereal atmospheres built with guitars and keyboards continues to evoke Phoebe Bridgers’ proposal or Taylor Swift’s ‘Folklore’. It’s surely no coincidence that both The National and Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon are credited.
‘Hit the Wall’ is an effectively constructed song, with some interesting images (“watch my blade ricochet”), but it misses a deeper and more concrete approach to the lyrics, less dependent on commonplaces. And no, it is not worth saying that his target is a teenager: Abrams is 26 years old. I am not going to name the masterpieces that other artists had already published even before that age.
