Bailey Spinn Says Goodbye to Her Good Girl Era in ‘loser’
She worked on the album for over a year.
Image Courtesy of Image PR
Pop-punk has experienced a full resurgence in the 2020s thanks to stars like Olivia Rodrigo, and singer/online creator Bailey Spinn has thrown her hat in the ring to claim her spot as one of the subgenre’s next icons. This past March, Spinn released her debut album, loser, an independent project that fully announces her as a full-fledged pop star.
Fame is nothing new to the 22-year-old Spinn, as she’s an online creator with millions of followers, but that attention is by no means a guarantee for success. Many digital creators have tried and failed to leverage their fame into success in the arts and fallen flat. Oftentimes, fans are hesitant to engage with the work if it’s unfamiliar, a hesitancy Spinn herself experienced, saying, “At first the response was split, some people were super supportive and others not as much.” Her self-described “Sad Girl Rock,” though, is catching on.
It helps that Spinn had viral covers online of popular pop-rock songs written by the artists she looks up to, such as Tate McRae and Rodrigo. Her experience and evident respect for the genre and its icons bring a certain earnest quality to her album and its subsequent success, as she’s scored a hit with the song “Happy Ending.”
The song, caps off the eight-song album, describes Spinn growing jaded after naively thinking her romantic life could be like the Disney movies she grew up on. It’s an appropriate topic for an artist with a similar trajectory as the many Disney child stars who have aimed for the pop charts. There’s also a certain theatricality to tracks like “kiss of death,” the one track on the album without roaring guitars and pounding drums, fitting for a musical theater kid.
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“I’ve diversified my sound with a fully orchestrated ballad called ‘kiss of death,’ which is pretty different from the rest of the album. Listening to the album all the way through is exciting, as I included some lighter pop-rock songs while tackling the heavier side with some high-intensity songs.” Her ambition is evident, and I can’t help but respect the authenticity of her come-up.
Spinn appeared at the When We Were Young festival, which has featured My Chemical Romance and other 2000s pop-punk staples, and she also released a popular EP in 2023 titled My Worst Enemy. This marked her transition from POV videos and Avril Lavigne covers to a music career, a transition that made her nervous, as she remarked, “It’s incredible to see the support I'm getting. Everyone has been sending me positive messages and even telling me about their personal favorite tracks from the album. I love building community.”
This community is clearly helping Spinn, who struggled with anxiety before and after social media fame. She worked on loser for over a year, and I get the sense she’s immensely proud of the result. “Some songs focus on the emotional aspects of a relationship, like being treated poorly when you’re trying your best. Others like ‘front row psycho’ are a representation of my mindset and how I work to fight against people who hate.” It’s clear that this first album is just a hint of the pop-rock punch Bailey Spinn has in store for us.
