An award-winning singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, film composer, producer, and solo artist, Abby Posner is a multitasker at heart. She shines a light on the full spread of her creative abilities with Second Chances, an album that uses modern American roots music as a springboard for a bigger, bolder sound. Influenced by everything from punk/rock to electronic music, Second Chances is every bit as diverse as the artist who made it.

 

Years before creating Americana records that shrink the distance between genres, Posner grew up in a small mountain town outside of Denver. By 10 years old, she was making her own recordings on an 8-track cassette recorder, playing all the instruments—including piano, guitar, bass, and drums—herself. Meanwhile, her father introduced her to classic records by Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, and iconic blues artists. Posner also became a devoted fan of punk music, moshing in the pit during gigs by bands like Alkaline Trio. Music wasn't just a hobby; it was a lifeline.

 

"Music has always helped me cope with the difficulties of life," says Posner, who's spent the past two decades in Los Angeles. "I'm queer and I came out at a very young age. Music was the glue that held me together through all of that. It helped me process my feelings about being different."

 

Being different serves Posner well throughout Second Chances. Inspired by a life-changing breakup and the introspective soul-searching that followed, the album deals with themes like resilience, patience, acceptance, self-awareness, and rebuilding. Posner calls it "a queer love story," but she clarifies that Second Chances is more about self-love than the affection we receive from others. "I wrote the songs about my own journey," she explains. "It's less about the one who got away, and more about discovering there's something better awaiting you. That's why I called it Second Chances. I'm getting into the second act of my life, chasing down something new."

 

Something new, indeed. Second Chances carves out its own genre-fluid identity, funneling Posner's influences into a sound that's entirely her own. "Quiet on Sunset" begins as an acoustic folk ballad before moving into electronic territory. "If You Wanna Love" bridges the gap between Posner's punk/rock past and Americana present. "Darkest Hours"—one of three songs to feature contributions from a full band—is a late-night soul song punctuated by bluesy fretwork. The indie-pop textures of "We've Come So Far" nod to modern influences like Phoebe Bridgers, while the hushed vocal harmonies in "Moving Back to Denver" evoke Elliot Smith's iconic bedroom recordings. Like Smith, Posner recorded the bulk of Second Chances at home, playing all of the instruments herself while pulling triple-duty as songwriter, performer, and producer. She also pieced together a band to perform three songs—"Darkest Hours," "Night Train," and "Simple Life"—during a short live-in-the-studio session. "I wanted to revisit the old-school mentality of capturing a song with one take, without any bells and whistles," she says of the songs that feature other musicians. "Then I paired those full-band recordings with the rest of the record, where I'm exploring plug-ins, production techniques, and a wider canvas of sound by myself."

 

Released on the heels of 2021's critically acclaimed Kisbee Ring, Second Chances marks the newest chapter in a life story that's still being written. Flip back a few pages and you'll find a number of early-career milestones: the episodes of Glee that found Posner on prime-time television, playing guitar and banjo; the film scores she created for award-winning projects like the Starz documentary Lady Buds; the shows she shared with headliners like Sierra Hull, Dave Alvin, and iconic lesbian folksinger Phranc; the hundreds of songs she wrote, several of which were used by Hulu, Netflix, Freeform, and “This American Life.” It's been an eclectic career. That eclecticism is reflected throughout Second Chances’ 12 songs, and Posner has never sounded so resolute. Dynamic, melodic, virtuosic, and proudly idiosyncratic, Second Chances reintroduces Abby Posner as a music industry veteran who's still chasing down new horizons.

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