Sara Bareilles on ‘Good Grief’ and Finding Joy in the Tough Stuff: ‘Grief Is the Mothership of This Record, but It Carries Release, Hope, Optimism and Connection’ — SkimNews
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- Sara Bareilles released 'Good Grief,' her first studio album in seven years, meditating on losing best friends to death, fertility struggles, mental health, eroding women's rights, and disillusionment with America
- 'Home,' the album's opening track, was inspired by Stephen Colbert and Anderson Cooper's grief conversation on Cooper's podcast 'All There Is'; Bareilles played the song live on Cooper's podcast and emailed it to Colbert, who both called the transmutation 'uncanny'
- 'Just a Kid,' which Bareilles calls a 'love letter' to her late friend Chad, draws on their early-aughts roommate years and the soundtrack of Frou Frou, Counting Crows, and the Wallflowers, with lyrics blending mirth and grief like 'You never got to get married / And I hate where you're buried'
- The album's thesis is captured in the lyric 'Grief is the blanket, and it covers everything' from 'Ladies in a Line,' with Bareilles arguing songs like the upbeat-sounding 'Still Crying' show grief can carry release and connection alongside sorrow
- A companion documentary, 'Sara Bareilles: Good Grief,' was recently released capturing the making of the record, and her first tour of the 2020s includes dates Sept. 18-19 at Radio City Music Hall and Oct. 12-14 at L.A.'s Dolby Theatre
- Between solo records, Bareilles starred in 'Girls5Eva' and is composing the next stage musical 'The Interestings,' explaining the seven-year gap as 'it takes the time it takes' until she has 'something else to say'
Why it matters: A seven-year gap between solo albums is rare for a singer-songwriter of Bareilles' commercial stature, and its timing — alongside a companion documentary and major-venue tour dates at Radio City and Dolby Theatre — signals label commitment to her return. By explicitly framing grief as expansive rather than purely somber, she's positioning the album for cross-generational reach, noting that even her young nieces and friends now carry grief about climate, politics, and division.
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