One year on, Sarah Katherine Lawless’ ‘Look What I’m Learning!’ still cuts deep.
Sarah Katherine Lawless doesn’t try to soften the edges. A year after its debut on March 22, 2024, her debut EP, Look What I’m Learning!, still feels just as gut-wrenching, unflinching, and painfully relatable as it did on first listen. Across four tracks, she spins through the highs and lows of emotional turbulence, balancing cutting wit with moments of gut-punching sincerity. The result? A project that spills over with unfiltered emotion—chaotic, cathartic, and deeply relatable.
Look What I’m Learning! wastes no time throwing you into the deep end. ‘make it make sense’ is a sharp, explosive unraveling of a relationship that refuses to end cleanly—full of frustration, pettiness, and the kind of heartbreak that lingers longer than it should. Lawless teeters between vulnerability and venom, her delivery unfiltered and frantic as she sings, “Some silly cycles have sharp little edges / And it’s about time I jumped off.” The jagged guitars and crashing drums mirror the song’s emotional push-pull, amplifying the tension with every beat. It’s the sonic equivalent of an argument you already know you’re going to replay in your head a hundred times over—messy, cathartic, and impossible to shake. It’s an opener that doesn’t just pull you in; it throws you straight into the storm.
‘good lord! i’m trying!’ dials down the aggression but keeps the anxiety high, unspooling like a spiraling apology. It plays like an internal monologue, swinging between self-recrimination and self-defense. Lawless sings, “I’m sorry I was having a moment / Forgive me I’m that fun and devoted girl / Who’s gotta be / Possibly / Losing her mind.” The song is both desperate and self-aware, as if she’s pleading with herself as much as anyone else. A steady, pulsing beat mirrors the way anxiety loops on itself, its hypnotic rhythm pulling you deeper into her headspace until you’re stuck in the spiral right alongside her.
By the time we hit ‘counting sheep,’ the EP has shifted into something weightless but uneasy, suspended in its own uncertainty. The track floats in an almost dreamlike haze, with muted instrumentals allowing the lyrics to cut through: “When I am afraid / You might just leave / When you’re awake / ‘Cause I can’t sleep.” It’s a stunning exploration of overthinking in love—where admiration and fear blur together. The outro, “Fill my soul with concrete paint / Couple coats to kill the pain,” lands like a gut punch, leaving behind a feeling that lingers long after the song ends.
After all the overanalyzing and emotional wreckage, Look What I’m Learning! ends with something unexpectedly sweet. ‘god you get me’ is the EP’s lightest moment, wrapped in the quiet relief of finally feeling understood by someone. Lawless still weaves in self-doubt—“If sometimes I need space / Then that gives you some time to play / Don’t want more than a day though”—but there’s a warmth here that wasn’t present before. After spiraling through frustration and fear, she finally sounds like she’s finding a soft place to land, embracing connection without second-guessing it. The track feels like a well-earned exhale, an ode to the people who stick around even when you’re at your messiest.
Beneath the emotional weight of Look What I’m Learning!, the instrumentation plays a crucial role in shaping its impact. The EP moves between indie-rock and indie-folk, balancing sharp, driving arrangements with softer, more introspective moments. Produced by Brooklyn-based producer Ben Coleman (Susannah Joffe, Laura Elliot, Farrah Hanna), the project balances raw intensity with a thoughtful sense of space, allowing each song to unfold with intention. Each track carries its own distinct mood, from the moody, slow-burning tension of ‘counting sheep’ to the bright, openhearted warmth of ‘god you get me.’ Lawless, an indie-folk artist inspired by Lucy Dacus, Madison Cunningham, Julia Jacklin, Rufus Wainwright, and Searows, has a cinematic sense for composition, letting the music swell and contract in tandem with her lyrical arcs. The result is an EP that doesn’t just tell a story—it makes you feel every sharp turn and quiet revelation along the way.
Look What I’m Learning! is a messy, sharp, heartbreaking debut that doesn’t try to resolve itself neatly—and that’s exactly what makes it so gripping. Sarah Katherine Lawless crafts each track with a rawness that feels deeply personal, yet universally familiar. Whether she’s seething, spiraling, or swooning, she never holds back. This is the kind of EP that makes you feel like you’re sitting next to her on the floor, dissecting everything that just happened, caught somewhere between clarity and chaos.
A year later, Lawless isn’t just reflecting on that chaos—she’s channeling it into something new. Since the release of her debut, she’s taken what she learned from that process and is approaching her next EP with even more intention. The project, featuring six new tracks, brings in producers Jake Aron (Snail Mail, Lutalo, Chloe Moriondo, Sarah Kinsley), Isaiah Beard (BAERD), and Jack Harrington from Shallow Alcove, expanding her sound while keeping her signature emotional depth. She’s also been bringing Look What I’m Learning! to life visually, releasing a music video for ‘god you get me’ on Valentine’s Day and, on March 22—the EP’s one-year anniversary—she’ll premiere a new music video for ‘good lord! i’m trying!’ One year later, she’s still finding new ways to push forward, making sure we feel every step of the journey with her.
Check out the premiere of ‘good lord! i’m trying!’ below: