New Jersey-based songwriter Mariel Loveland has built a career chronicling coming of age, one chapter at a time. First, writing poetry in the margins of her math homework, then touring the world in the scrappy Warped Tour-era punk band Candy Hearts, sharing stages with pop punk heavyweights like New Found Glory, Weezer, and Man Overboard. Now, with her solo endeavor Best Ex, she’s opening a whole new book.

Loveland launched Best Ex in 2017, jumping headfirst into a full U.S. tour to support her EP Ice Cream Anti-Social. Since then, Loveland has released the EP Good At Feeling Bad (2020) and debut full-length, With a Smile (2023) — music that blends diary-like introspection and biting sarcasm, sitting at the edge of bedroom synthpop and high-gloss production. Her writing has earned acclaim from Billboard, Alternative Press, and Kerrang, with airplay on BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio 6, and Idobi Radio.

Good Girl (Iodine Recordings) marks Loveland’s return to guitars, trading synths for 90s-inspired sheen, without losing an ounce of her whip-smart lyricism.