Fresh off a tour with Pool Kids, Sydney Sprague has just released her sophomore album somebody in hell loves you and she’s gearing up for her own headlining tour–her first one ever–this fall.
“When I started writing songs for this record during covid lockdown it felt like the movie had ended and the credits had rolled on life but we were all still here for some reason,” Sydney said via press release. “Everything was just floating in this void and because of that I felt like I had all the time in the world to just do whatever I wanted. It was weirdly the freest I’ve ever felt. Writing became a way to entertain myself and make myself laugh instead of a way to wallow. I spent a lot of time reflecting on the past and the people around me and processing things I’d never been able to. I was able to be more honest than I’d ever been in my songs. The fact that I’m able to share them now feels a little scary because when I was writing them they were really just for me, but I hope they can bring people the same sense of escape that they brought me.”
Over an appealing backdrop that ranges from fuzzy indie-punk to bright alt-pop, Sydney sings about everyday life in a way that ranges from conversational to funny to melancholic, and it’s often widely relatable. You can stream the album below, and for a deeper dive into each song, Sydney has given us a track-by-track breakdown. Read on for what she had to say…
“if i’m honest”
Starting off fresh at the top of the new record with a song about feelings from 8 years ago!!! “if i’m honest” is about trying to convince yourself/others that you’ve moved on when you haven’t and probably never will. I like to joke sometimes that I do not forgive or forget, but I think there’s definitely some truth to that unfortunately. I’m not good at letting go of stuff.
“lsob”
“lsob” stands for ‘lucky son of a bitch’. It’s about a girl who tries to insert herself into someone else’s relationship. This song is mostly gossip that doesn’t belong to me, but I think the themes of jealousy and lust for neighbor’s wife are pretty universal.
“overkill”
“overkill” is about loving someone you feel like is ~out of your league~. Most of the song is just gushing admiration, like, wow you’re so beautiful, I’m obsessed with you, I would die for you. But then there’s the realization that it’s not totally being returned or reciprocated, it feels like you’re doing too much and it’s literally overkill.
“data analysis”
“data analysis” is about indecision & being conflicted in a relationship. I’m pretty obsessed with The Bachelor franchise and I think a lot about split feelings and trying to decide between two people when you have feelings for both. This song has one of my favorite guitar moments on the record, there’s a solo towards the end that has major power-rangers vibes.
“smiley face”
“smiley face” is a song about being in love with your sleep paralysis demon. Not actually, but kind of. I have really vivid dreams and most of them are horrible, but every once in a while they are sweet and fun and I will sometimes wake myself (and my partner) up from laughing out loud. One morning I woke up that way and wrote “i smile in my sleep” into my notes app. I came back to it later and wrote the song around it.
“nobody knows anything”
“nobody knows anything” is about arguing with people on facebook. In 2020 during lockdown we were all stressed, bored, and obviously very divided, but a lot of people decided that differences of opinion between friends that used to be acceptable were now irreconcilable. I’ll admit I was part of the problem. I blocked a lot of people for posting misinformation. But the one that set me off was an old family friend who was being mean to my mom in her comments, that’s when I was like WHATS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE??? Nobody talks to my mom like that.
“god damn it jane”
One valentine’s day about 12 years ago I was hanging out at my friend’s apartment watching movies and we heard his neighbors having a screaming argument through the wall. We paused the movie and sat and listened to the whole thing, and it was INSANE. A lot of the lyrics in the song are direct quotes from that fight, including my favorite “God damn it Jane, I just wanted to dance on valentine’s day”. It’s something I still think about all the time, and I figured it was about time to memorialize it.
“hello cruel world”
“hello cruel world” is about what it’s like to be a home/apartment renter in 2023. I’d been forced to move 3 years in a row because of rent increases and I ended up in a house that I never felt safe in. I get really sentimental about the homes I’ve lived in, and I usually write songs about them, but this one was just a nightmare.
“big star go”
“big star go” is about being in a toxic friendship, and letting the little things build up for so long without addressing them that the whole thing just implodes. I was at that point with a friend and it all went unsaid, so i didn’t realize how mistreated I felt until I wrote this song.
“terrible places”
One thing about me is that I am always thinking about every possibly worst case scenario. I get into anxiety spirals. Specifically, “terrible places” is about if someone doesn’t answer the phone or text back immediately. My brain immediately jumps to the conclusion that either a) something horrible must have happened to them or b) they hate me.
“sketching lessons”
“sketching lessons” is sort of a follow up to “i refuse to die,” which is the first song on my first record, maybe i will see you at the end of the world. I wrote that song about all the things I wanted to do before I died, and I recorded it in January of 2020. Then covid happened. I thought I missed my chance, and “sketching lessons” was an attempt to gaslight myself into staying positive. I wrote it about what it would feel like to make it out on the other side and it’s kind of cheesy but it’s from future-me’s perspective having already done it all, and looking back telling myself that it’s gonna be ok. I get pretty emotional listening back to this one because in the last 3 years I have actually somehow done everything I hoped to. I think I maybe accidentally manifested.
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Sydney’s tour with openers Wheelwright hits NYC on December 1 at Mercury Lounge. All dates:
Nov 3 Fri Pleasant Harbor RV Peoria, AZ, United States
Nov 9 Thu Soda Bar San Diego, CA, United States
Nov 10 Fri El Cid Los Angeles, CA, United States
Nov 11 Sat Constellation Room Santa Ana, CA, United States
Nov 12 Sun Neck Of the Woods San Francisco, CA, United States
Nov 14 Tue Barboza Seattle, WA, United States
Nov 15 Wed McMenamins Mission Theater Portland, OR, United States
Nov 16 Thu El Korah Shrine Boise, ID, United States
Nov 17 Fri Kilby Court Salt Lake City, UT, United States
Nov 18 Sat Lost Lake Lounge Denver, CO, United States
Nov 20 Mon The Rino North Kansas City, MO, United States
Nov 21 Tue Blueberry Hill St Louis, MO, United States
Nov 22 Wed The End Nashville, TN, United States
Nov 24 Fri Schubas Chicago, IL, United States
Nov 25 Sat The Pike Room Pontiac, MI, United States
Nov 26 Sun The Drake Hotel Toronto, ON, Canada
Nov 27 Mon Club Cafe Pittsburgh, PA, United States
Nov 29 Wed PhilaMOCA Philadelphia, PA, United States
Nov 30 Thu Deep Cuts Medford, MA, United States
Dec 1 Fri Mercury Lounge New York, NY, United States
Dec 2 Sat Songbyrd Washington, D.c., DC, United States
Dec 3 Sun Cat’s Cradle Carrboro, NC, United States
Dec 5 Tue Will’s Pub Orlando, FL, United States
Dec 6 Wed The Masquerade Atlanta, GA, United States
Dec 8 Fri Andy’s Bar & Grill Denton, TX, United States
Dec 9 Sat Mohawk Austin, TX, United States
Dec 15 Fri The Rebel Lounge Phoenix, AZ, United States