It’s been four long years that I’ve been waiting for Litany’s debut album to drop. In my gay opinion, her previous EPs are pop perfection and I was expecting her album, Sadgirl, to be more of the same but it’s actually much deeper lyrically but just as musically pleasing. Sadgirl is like a pop therapy session, if you couldn’t guess with a song title like “Hello, Anxiety.”
Sadgirl is very personal and autobiographical. “Liar Liar” might suggest Litany’s previous EPs were more upbeat because she was putting on a brave face (“For all the times I said I was fine / Well, let me clarify / I was outta my fucking mind”) and now she’s expressing her darker emotions. “Sadgirl” is Litany finding happiness and acceptance in her sadness with a “Ted Talk, the subject of course, me” and “I don’t need to meet and greet the new me / Cause I don’t need fixing.” Not only are the songs dealing with mental health but also with long-distance love (“Vertigo”, “I Need A Man” and “Future Us”), her creative blocks (“Jelly Tot”), career goals (“American Dream” that’s giving me the songwriting I’ve been missing since Saving Jane broke up) and lost friendships (“Jean (Two Ships)).”
Sometimes I want a feel-good album that lifts me up, which is what I originally hoped for from Sadgirl, but other times I want to wallow in my feels and be ok with that, which is what I unexpectedly got. This album makes me appreciate Litany for the person she wants to be and the diva she is.
