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On her sophomore album, Good Story, Eliza McLamb embraces a change of pace. It's decidedly different from her 2024 debut, Going Through It, with mature, confident lyricism paired with a superb, folk-rock sound. The title of this album refers to the power of storytelling, the idea that life is what you make it, and the way those unassuming moments in our lives sometimes make the biggest impression. This departure signals that the budding singer-songwriter is growing and changing as an artist, digging deeper into the themes that have always inspired her.

The opening track, "Better Song," takes listeners by the hand and into the sonic landscapes McLamb has so carefully crafted. The air is filled with stellar, heavy guitar riffs and her vocals crooning, "I have trouble with memories/ making 'em up and forgetting things/There's a time so dark and blank/ The chorus is fueled by the addictive, goopy banjo lines, which break up the more rock-influenced parts of the track and add an organic, rustic texture. As she continues, she delivers what is essentially the heart of the album, singing, "Writing it down and making it real/ skipping the step where I remember to feel." covering how viewing her life as stories worth telling has allowed her to detach and cope.

The previously released "Suffering" is a personal favorite from the record. It's by far McLamb's most experimental effort thus far about one's tendency to hold their wounds close. The wry track starts with a baroque piano intro, over which McLamb wryly repurposes people's perceptions of her from the Going Through It era; she goes from "poor maudlin child" to singing about getting off on suffering, over giant, scuzzy guitars.

Standout tracks include "Forever Like That" and "Every Year," both of which explore the passage of time and shifting perspectives. The former boasts a relatable premise and catchy chorus, and details how different things feel looking back on them versus in the moment they happen. McLamb delivers this idea with the line, "I'm stupid in the moment and so wise when I look back/ I thought I understood it, what a time I had/ I'll forget again forever like that," as evidenced by the continuous backward glance to different ages throughout the song. Meanwhile, the latter addition to the album is another electric guitar track with a simple yet beautiful sentiment, "every year I meet someone who changes me/ every change I want comes slowly." It's a thoughtful moment on a thoughtful album, speaking to the ways that we are changed, even in the smallest of ways, all the time.

On the shimmering closer "Getting Free," McLamb finally finds empowerment in the process, refusing to take the trial and error she's experienced for granted. She sings on the chorus, "There are so many ways it could have gone down, Pretty much all of them easier than right now." She revels in her past and her proclivity for change, drawing on the knowledge gained throughout the previous 12 songs. In the final lyrics of the record, she sings over slashing guitar riffs, "When it's just me and the world I make a place I can find escape from/ Running down the street, away from what I thought I wanted/ Getting free."

Good Story is a look inwards into McLamb's own lore, but it's never so personal that it becomes inaccessible. The album borders on a call to take a hard look at the stories we tell ourselves and how they fit into the bigger picture of self. It encourages listeners, or at least it does me, to look into our own narratives and how they define us. Almost every song on this record serves as a part of a bigger narrative, weaving into one damn Good Story.