Signed to Rude Records, guitar-fuelled pop wonder Sydney Sprague has released her first full-length album Maybe I Will See You at the End of the World. It has been eagerly awaited from her fans, even more so with staggered releases of the leading singles. Her music and lyrics are unapologetic, acting almost as her diary and a gateway into her mind.
With songs like the opener, "i refuse to die," telling us with self-assuredness what she wants and what’s going on: ‘All I want is a cold black coffee,’ and ‘All I need is a little bit of pressure,’ we’re shown the beginnings of her tenacity and want to live with the refrain of ‘So I refuse to die.’ Though these are songs to mark the end of the world, there is no way Sprague will go without making some noise.
Each song deals with big emotions in short, sharp bursts of booming guitars and angst-fuelled lyrics. It’s reminiscent of the pop-punk princesses of the early 2000s and the contemplativeness of the spoken-word punks of the 2010s as she’s loud and proud with how she makes her mark on every song.
There are some quieter moments on the album, namely "you have to stop" and "quitter." They’re reflective and melancholy, with the main feature being Sprague’s clear vocals. Lyrically they’re both incredibly earnest as she sings ‘Now the sky is falling for no reason / I can feel the words on the tip of your tongue / But you never say them,’ in ‘you have to stop’ and ‘I still find pieces of you in the carpet in my living room / Buttons that you tore out when I told you there's no more / If I loved you again could you love me better?’ in "quitter."
Sprague flicks back and forth throughout this release, from knowing that time is fleeting when it’s the end of the world so get it all out now, to wanting to take a moment and really dig deep into everything she’s feeling as there won’t be another chance to do so.
If you hold artists like Julien Baker and Avril Lavigne dear, you will find solace in Maybe I Will See You at the End of the World.