Back in 2020, Sophie Allison, also known as Soccer Mommy, sung to the devil on the song “Lucy,” begging the demon to stop chasing her. In her latest album, Sometimes, Forever, Allison details the aforementioned devil continuing his pursuit on the murky track “Darkness Forever”: “Hot on my tail, and I’m trying to struggle out of his leash,” she sings. The chase hasn’t stopped.

Soccer Mommy’s music can sound like a sullen lovechild of Sheryl Crow, Liz Phair, and maybe even a bit of Taylor Swift. Allison has an undeniable ear for crafting earworms that can burrow inside your head for days, and it’s both the melodies and the gloomy truths in her lyrics that stick around. Demons, ghosts, death, and fire are recurring images that live throughout Sometimes, Forever, and at times it runs the risk of the album drowning in a sea of despair. This isn’t anything new to those familiar with Soccer Mommy’s music, but 2020’s Color Theory managed to keep the vibe afloat with sunnier tracks.

Here, the sun’s been blotted out even more, with songs like “Shotgun,” “Bones,” and “Don’t Ask Me,” offering up some brighter spots mainly in their production. This isn’t meant to disparage Allison’s darker turn, as her writing continues to be sharp and devastating, and her voice sounds beautiful with Daniel Lopatin’s production, but sometimes the songs can bleed into one another, making it hard for some to stand out on their own.

Sometimes, Forever is still a strong step in Soccer Mommy’s discography. It’s an album aware that happiness isn’t something that can be easily achieved in a snap, and Allison respects her audience too much to treat them with kids’ gloves when it comes to her bleaker lyrics. She knows better than anyone that life is short, but sometimes it can feel like forever.