Gracie Abrams And The Professionalization Of "Bedroom-Pop"

When Olivia Rodrigo took over the world with “drivers license” at the top of 2021, critics like me scrambled to point out reference points for the trembling piano ballad, which simultaneously felt traditional and in step with the bedroom-pop zeitgeist. But Rodrigo herself did not cite the influence of Phoebe Bridgers, Billie Eilish, or even her self-professed idols Taylor Swift and Lorde. Rather, she said the song was directly indebted to minor, the 2020 EP from Gracie Abrams. “It was so g...