Self-aware with a knowing injection of dark humor, her songs summon the best of 90s alt-rock and classic power-pop without sacrificing a melancholy befitting of the end times. The Phoenix, Arizona singer/songwriter sharpened her creative voice across two radiant albums. Her sophomore record, somebody in hell loves you, is as devilishly saccharine as the title implies, boldly accessible and smart.

Refinery 29, UPROXX, Rock Sound, NPR, Guitar World, and American Songwriter were among the tastemaker outlets who lavished praise upon her 2021 debut, maybe i will see you at the end of the world. “Unfiltered lyrics meet ‘sad’ and ‘anxious’ sounding music,” Kerrang! observed. “[But] this record isn’t a doom-laden diatribe; there’s an underlying tongue-in-cheek humor bubbling through.”

The candid, authentic emotions on maybe i will see you at the end of the world and somebody in hell loves you are keys to her relatability. A grownup emo kid who loves pop-punk, indie rock, hooky radio hits, and everything between, Sydney shares the same struggles as her crowd. It’s a connection forged further on the road, like her tour with Jimmy Eat World and Dashboard Confessional. Music helps Sydney Sprague get through it all, and her hope is that her songs will help folks to do the same.