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The world is in shambles. Crooked politicians, global warming crises, bad boyfriends, financial woes; what’s a girl to do? If you’re Debbii Dawson, you channel those anxieties into the excellent new EP Where Have All The Good Men Gone?

The project, created out of Dawson’s worries about everything from disasters on the news, to complicated personal relationships, is an 80s-pop-lover’s dream, full of dazzling synths, glittering electric keys, and dramatic choruses you’ll want to scream along to. 

Title track “Where Have All The Good Men Gone?” is a standout. Released earlier this year, the Bonnie-Tyler-esque single is a tongue-in-cheek plea to the universe for a hero. The song is full of humor, whether it’s Dawson noting that these days, “it feels like everybody’s missing their medullas,” to her question of where all the good men went off to — “Did they all get lost down in Bermuda?”

“Money” is another song dripping in 80s influences, from its grinding guitar riff and slinky beat, to its lyrics that extoll the virtues of excess. “Life’s like a party and it’s hard to get in,” Dawson sings. “Dreaming of the day I make it inside // on the floor // I need more // money!”

Dawson also takes aim at past lovers, whether it’s one who cultivated a cult-follower-like obsession in Dawson (“I’d do anything that you say // I would drink your Kool Aid” on single “Kool Aid”), or someone who broke down her confidence. 

“You invented a game that I’m always losing,” she snarls on “Don’t Want To Play Anymore,” declaring, “I don’t want to play anymore // don’t want to smile, don’t want to sing, don’t want to dance at your show.”

It isn’t all doom and gloom, though. “Lay It All Down” is a tenderhearted track directed at someone who’s feeling the weight of the world on their shoulders. “Lay your head on my shoulder,” Dawson soothes. “Don’t have to act older.” It’ll make you want to pull out a lighter and wave it in the air, arms thrown around the people standing next to you. 

Meanwhile on “Mars,” Dawson has found her “own Xanadu” with a lover; so much so, that she makes it clear — “If you go away // I’d be crying everyday // I’d follow you if you go to Mars.” The song’s groovy production and stacked harmonies bring to mind Queen at their best. 

On Where Have All The Good Men Gone?, Dawson expertly lays out her worries, big and small, balancing real anxiety with a sparkling sense of humor — the perfect accessory to face your troubles. 

Listen to Where Have All The Good Men Gone? below: