Album by ggwendolyn
A few weeks ago I spent some time with a handful of singles from Superstar Syndrome, and they immediately made me curious about ggwendolyn’s debut album.
The songs had hooks, but the lyrics also gave me something to think about. And musically, they kept going in directions I didn’t expect.
I got more of the same from Superstar Syndrome. ggwendolyn blends indie rock, folk, alternative country, pop, psychedelia, and bits of experimentation without losing those pop sensibilities.
If there’s a thread connecting the album, it’s the feeling of standing at a crossroads. Almost every song seems to ask some version of the same question: Who am I becoming, and am I brave enough to keep moving toward that person?
The title track remains one of my favorite new discoveries this year. Built on a wonderful blend of indie pop and alternative country, it explores that terrifying point where you have to decide whether to chase the thing you actually want without any guarantee it will work out, or settle for what’s safe. It could easily have become cliché, but ggwendolyn’s performance feels too genuine.
“Normal Avenue” continues that idea of choosing which road to take. Beginning with gentle folk before swelling into something almost psychedelic, it reminded me that choosing between two paths rarely means choosing between happiness and failure. Sometimes both roads contain disappointment. Sometimes both contain joy. That repeated question—“Is it all you want? Is it all you wanted?”—really lands.
“Crisscross Way” was my favorite of the three singles I had listened to before the album was released, and it remains a standout. It reminds me of Beth Orton and PJ Harvey mixed with Gothic Americana and even a little Sheryl Crow at her bluesiest. The song feels like speeding through life’s intersections with no certainty that you’ve chosen the right direction.
“Don’t Break Up the Band” begins like a stripped-back 90s alternative song before gradually transforming and giving me serious Paul McCartney and Wings Band on the Run vibes. It’s adventurous. Synths, horns, shifting tones—it keeps changing as it becomes an affectionate celebration of the messy, collaborative process of creating something with people you care about.
“Jock My Style” injects swagger and humor through a groove that immediately made me think of Luscious Jackson. The bouncing bass, distorted guitars, and vocal delivery show another side of ggwendolyn.
For me, “This So-Called Life” is the apex of the album. It captures that unsettling period where life seems to stall. The anxiety. The isolation. The feeling that everyone else somehow received a map you never got. ggwendolyn starts out almost conversational before the emotion gradually begins to break through. It’s a remarkable song.
“Shifting” examines the instability of loving someone whose affection never quite feels secure, set against one of the album’s brightest indie pop arrangements. “Tehran” feels like a deeply personal response to world events rather than overtly political. Dreamy guitars give it an R&B feel before touches of Middle Eastern music emerge toward the end.
“Little Louder” wrestles with self-doubt before slowly building toward reassurance, while “All Right For Right Now” provides exactly the ending this album needs. Rather than promising that everything will work out, it simply accepts that—for this moment, at least—things are okay. The joyful call-and-response vocals feel earned because the album has spent so much time acknowledging uncertainty.
The final song “I’m Not Leaving This Time” works almost like a post script to the album. On the surface, it sounds like it could be a relationship song. But I kept hearing it as a conversation with the album itself. After spending all this time questioning identity, ambition, purpose, and self-belief, the closing statement isn’t certainty. It’s commitment.
Maybe the dream still feels impossible. Maybe doubt never disappears. But you’re choosing to keep going anyway. That feels like the perfect answer to how we started off with “Superstar Syndrome.”
ggwendolyn knows how to write a song. She understands hooks, melodies, and choruses, but she also isn’t afraid to mess with the formula. Songs change direction and arrangements take chances without feeling like experimentation just for the sake of it.
Most importantly, Superstar Syndrome isn’t another album built entirely around breakups or settling scores. It’s about identity. Purpose. The courage to chase something uncertain. And learning that sometimes the most important decision isn’t knowing exactly where you’re going. It’s deciding you’re still willing to take the next step.
Verdict: Great
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