Album Review: Eliza McLamb – Good Story
Review by Ava Wiseley
How are our memories affected when we share them as stories? What happens to us when we think about the past too often?
These are questions that Eliza McLamb addresses on her new album, “Good Story,” released Oct. 24.
McLamb, who is also a popular Substack writer and a co-host of the podcast “Binchtopia,” has been making music since 2020, when one of her songs went viral on TikTok. She went on to release a handful of singles, an EP titled “Salt Circle” and her first record, “Going Through It.”
“Good Story” is the songwriter’s sophomore album, and like her previous projects, its lyrics are introspective. She writes primarily about how her past shapes her art, and how that process influences her perception of the past.
The theme is introduced with the opening track, “Better Song.” McLamb sings, “I have trouble with memories, making them up and forgetting things.”
“Better Song” is a slow-burn rocker — a banjo ticks along in the beginning, and electric guitars explode at the end. It sets the sonic mood for the album, which can be described as a mixture of two of her contemporaries: Soccer Mommy and Leith Ross.
On the title track, McLamb elaborates on the idea that the stories from her past are malleable. She sings, “I made it out and so I make it up; a self serving poet, and it isn’t enough.” She also considers how others perceive her: “If I find out that you don’t like it, I can write it different. It’s so easy.”
She speaks to those of us who have thoughts like, “Was I really happy during that time, or am I wearing rose-colored glasses? Is my memory still what happened, or has it morphed into something else as I’ve shared it?”
The title track also has one of the sonic sweet spots of the album: a pleasant instrumental outro with an acoustic and electric guitar sharing the melody.
“Talisman,” one of the quieter tunes, continues to develop the album’s overarching theme. McLamb writes that she tells stories about her past as a way of avoiding confronting her future. Over gentle fingerpicking, she sings, “The future’s always blurry; going back in time; I see everything fine.”
McLamb is even more stuck in the past on “Water Inside the Fence.” She sings, “I know the present is all I have and yet still, I walk it back; just another lap around the water inside the fence.” The song crescendos to an eerie outro, where she repeats the lyric “just another lap” eight times. It’s reminiscent of how it feels to be unable to stop looking at old photos.
In addition to exploring how memories inspire what she creates, McLamb reflects on the act of that creation itself.
On the humorously self-pitying “Suffering,” she worries that she’ll only feel inspired when she’s unhappy: “My better days only terrify me; what do they mean? Onе day I might have nothing left to write.”
“Mausoleum” also touches on the creation of art and the world she builds out of her stories. This track is sonically interesting — it almost seems like it was recorded while her bandmates were still figuring out their parts.
Two other highlights of the album are “Like the Boys” and “Every Year.” While they stray from the topics that have previously been addressed, they are lyrically interesting. It’s their sound that makes the tracks stand out, however — both are true indie-rock tunes, with crunchy guitars and a driving beat.
While most of the album centers around the past in some way, its closer, “Getting Free,” sees her looking towards the future. “I’m starting over and over again. I find a bright light and I chase it,” she sings. The track ends the album on a more positive note, and production-wise, an electric one.
“Good Story” is unlikely to become a standout album in the indie music sphere. Its melodies and production, while enjoyable, tend to be generic. But it’s clear that McLamb’s focus is on her lyrics, and in that department, she excels.
The record is incredibly cohesive thematically. Many songs share the same message, but they don’t feel repetitive. And the theme itself — of creating, mulling over the past and the relationship between these processes — feels fresh, unique and ultimately very relatable.
If you ever find yourself taking too long of a walk down memory lane, give “Good Story” a listen instead.