Abi Carter releases debut album ‘ghosts in the backyard’
Abi Carter, Indio native and 2024 American Idol winner, released her debut album, ghosts in the backyard, on Friday.
With raw lyrics and evocative storytelling, Carter explores the pains of growing up, fading relationships, and bittersweet memories that still linger and sting. Each track is a chapter in Carter’s emotional journey, capturing the poignancy of moving forward without letting go of the past.
The album was born from Carter’s reflections on her youth and the losses that come with time.
“I started thinking about those carefree summer days that I thought would never end and then I suddenly realized that my childhood really was gone,” Carter shares about the title cut. “It felt like the lightness of being a kid had vanished, too soon.”
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ghosts in the backyard delves into deeply difficult subjects. In “I Don’t Need Help,” she explores the feeling of powerlessness when witnessing friends struggling with addiction. “Growing up is realizing you can’t help someone who doesn’t want to change,” Carter explains. “It’s a painful reality, but it’s one that everyone eventually faces.”
Other tracks like “maybe i loved you” and “Comfortably Numb” show her ability to be introspective and confessional, finding meaning in heartbreak and self-identity. In the unflinching “some people need drugs,” Carter shares her story of surviving toxic relationships and finding self-worth. “At the end of the day, loving yourself means leaving bad situations,” she says.
The album concludes with the haunting title track, "ghosts in the backyard," a nostalgic reflection on childhood friendships and the innocence that fades with time.
“I wrote this song about missing my childhood friends that I felt blindsided in losing,” Carter shares. “In truth, we just grew up and their lives took them to other places, but I was naive to think we’d always live in the same town, go to the same colleges, have the same career, and grow up happily ever after right next door to each other. It wasn’t until I realized they were really gone that I started to mourn my own childhood. I felt like with them gone, so too was the whimsy of being a kid.”
The album, produced by Michael Edwards, dazy, Ella Boh, Jack Kleinick, and Dave Burris, also marks the first collaboration with Groundwork Records and owners Michael Morrison and Ethan Langston.
“We couldn’t be happier to be working with Abi on this wonderful collection of songs,” says Morrison. “Those who loved her on American Idol will be thrilled with where she is taking her musical talent and the heartfelt topics she’s exploring,” Langston concludes.
Abi Carter’s ghosts in the backyard is now available on all major streaming platforms here.
