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2021, The Year Of The ‘Sad Girl’

Adele performs at Wembley Stadium in London, England.
Adele performs at Wembley Stadium in London, England.

Adele’s new album “30” drops Friday and Variety is already calling it her “Emotionally Rawest, Riskiest, and Best Record.” Although fans are eagerly waiting to ugly cry to this particular album, they’ve got plenty of new sad music to tide them over.

Between “30,” Taylor Swift’s re-release of “Red,” and a new song from Mitski, it’s been quite a month for so-called “sad girl” music – a category of female artists whose searing, poetic lyrics about breakups and heartache accompany us through our days.

Even before November, this year has been dominated by a bevy of sad girls – from Olivia Rodrigo to Julien Baker, and from Phoebe Bridgers to Billie Eilish. 

But what really is sad girl music? Is it anything new? And what makes it so resonant right now? 

Copyright 2021 WAMU 88.5

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