AceShowbiz - Audrey Hobert refuses to be just the subject of a joke. While some say "We're not laughing at you, we're laughing with you," Audrey Hobert occupies a different space altogether: she’s confidently watching from above, brushing her hands off, fully aware of the world she has created.

Since her emergence less than two years ago, much has been said about Hobert's music. It is often described as self-referential, confessional, stream-of-consciousness, and relatable. She has shared her journey so many times that she’s distilled it into a concise narrative: A childhood steeped in pop music and dance gave way to a high school epiphany—writing was cooler than performing. "Even though I felt like a performer, I more so felt like I wanted to be the person who was building the world that people would perform," she recalls. Following that, she pursued dramatic writing at NYU Tisch, graduated, and began working as a staff writer for Nickelodeon. Around this time, she moved in with a childhood friend who happened to be Gracie Abrams.

The two had been roommates for about six months before they tried writing a song together. "It was not preconceived," Hobert explains. "We barely knew what was happening while it was happening." Among their collaborations was Abrams' most-streamed single, "That's So True," which has amassed 1.6 billion streams on Spotify. The song bears Hobert’s signature: rapid guitar strumming, lyrics delivered at a breakneck pace, and a blend of confusion and self-aware humor.

Thanks to a push from Abrams, Hobert secured a baseline publishing deal to ensure she was compensated fairly. Around the same time, the Nickelodeon show she worked on was cancelled. Though songwriting wasn’t her initial career plan, she began attending writing sessions with other artists. This period of transition lasted about four months. "I kind of never left one of those sessions and felt good about the song," she admits. "I started to write by myself. And then when I started writing by myself, I found it allowed me to think on one sentence for as long as I wanted, which was sometimes up to eight hours."

Those focused, solitary sessions helped Hobert enter a genuine flow state. They also gave her a strong sense of ownership over her stories. It began with "Wet Hair," the first song she wrote for what became her debut album, Who's The Clown? Initially, she wasn’t sure if she would sing the song herself. "I did have the thought that maybe someone else would sing this, and I was like, 'Yeah, sure. I don't know,'" she says. But after writing "Sex and the City," she decided firmly, "No, no, I will sing this song."

Musically, Hobert draws from her lifelong engagement with musical theater, film, and pop music. "I remember having the active thought very early on that there are no rules. I have such an innate knowledge of pop music because I've been studying it without realizing it all my life," she explains.

In "Sex and the City," the narrator confronts the gap between the idealized excitement of young adulthood and the often disappointing reality. The song captures a night out that ends in awkwardness and disenchantment: a casual bar visit with a detached companion who heats up a pizza pocket only for himself, claims to be an artist off his meds, and leaves the toilet seat up. "If this is it, then what is it all for?" she sings. The track is a sharp, three-minute exploration of the yearning for desire, even if only fleeting.

Though fictional, Hobert says the song resonates deeply with anyone who has lived through similar experiences. Listening to it can feel less like reminiscing and more like an intense, skin-crawling flashback. This ability to hone in on a particular strain of discomfort is something she’s mastered early in her career. "Something that I've always been told is that I have a perspective," she says, noting that even in college writing classes, instructors remarked on her strong personal voice. "It never felt like I was discovering something new about myself as I was writing these songs or that I was wearing my heart on my sleeve," she adds. "I never wiped a tear when I wrote a line. I was just really trying to hone my craft."

Throughout Who's The Clown?, Hobert seems to perform for an ambiguous voyeur, exhibiting what some might call "main character syndrome" or the effect of the Internet encouraging people to romanticize their lives. But the nuance lies in her meta-awareness: she knows there’s an audience and preempts judgment by acknowledging it first, effectively beating listeners to the punchline.

Her music caters to maladaptive daydreamers and those who grew up on soundtrack anthems like Kelly Clarkson’s "Breakaway." If young adulthood could be distilled into a linear timeline, Who's The Clown? would capture the fragile space between naive ennui and growing maturity.

This tension is perhaps most evident on the album’s standout track, "Bowling Alley." The song vividly portrays the internal debate over whether to attend a party or stay home, as if the fate of the world depends on this decision. The result? Nobody even notices she was there. On "Chateau," which opens with a bright percussion intro reminiscent of Natasha Bedingfield’s "Unwritten," Hobert offers a skeptical take on a glamorous Los Angeles gathering. "Are we legally bound to stand in this circle lookin' around?" she questions. Meanwhile, "Thirst Trap" captures the humiliating obsession with a crush, concluding with a triumphant saxophone solo—a hilariously timed contrast to the song’s pitiful sentiment.

Who's The Clown? maintains a steady, upbeat energy throughout its 12 tracks. It reflects Hobert’s resistance to a common trope among female Gen Z singer-songwriters: the "woe is me" narrative. "Writing that first album, I had such a gripe with 'Woe is me,'" she admits. "I just felt more embarrassed to express a 'Woe is me' thought than I did to express, 'I feel like my face is ugly.'" She recognizes both as forms of self-pity but chose to frame her grievances in a way that empowered her. "If I'm going to express a grievance, I need to turn it around for myself."

When it comes to songwriting influences, Hobert admires artists who take listeners on unexpected journeys, both melodically and lyrically. She cites SZA, Taylor Swift, and MJ Lenderman among those who inspire her creative approach.

In sum, Audrey Hobert is a young artist who has carved a distinctive space for herself in the music world. Her debut album Who's The Clown? showcases her skill at blending candid storytelling with sharp wit and musical sophistication. With a background in dramatic writing and a collaborative start alongside Gracie Abrams, Hobert is poised to continue evolving as a singer-songwriter with a unique voice and perspective.