Most New Year anthems set out promises of self-reinvention or grand plans to change the world, "Resolutions" takes a refreshingly candid turn. Kirstyn's words sound like quiet post-holiday repentance, and she's here to tell listeners that life has several ways of working out, even if plans fall through.
Recorded at Good Grief House and Massey Hall Studios with co-producer Jake Kovacevic, the song marries confessional storytelling with sharp, embracing production. The musical palette is muted but warm enough to let Kirstyn's voice remain the story's torchbearer. There's a light playfulness to the instrumentation, evoking the holidays' disheveled charm without hijacking the song's introspective heart.
"Resolutions" fits right into "Happy Home", a project that demonstrates Good Grief's knack for encapsulating the misery and magic of the holiday memories, longing, growth, self-acceptance, and moments of happiness. In enlisting a roster of artists featuring Priyanka, NIIVA, Nicolina, Andye, Bryn, and herself for the EP, it fosters a spirit of community and shared experience that feels equally intimate and expansive.
In a season in which perfectionist-driven fantasies often rule, "Resolutions" is the gentle reminder that it's okay to stumble, or even pause for a moment and be. Kirstyn Johnson and Good Grief are doing more than inverting the new year, new me narrative here, they're humanizing it, turning it into a song that sounds like an invitingly warm check-in from someone who knows some of the best resolutions are the ones you don't have to try too hard to force.