Audrey Hobert never dreamed of being a pop star; after majoring in screenwriting at NYU, she got a job as a staff writer on a Nickelodeon comedy. On a whim in 2024, the 26-year-old Los Angeles native started writing songs with her roommate and best friend Gracie Abrams—several of which would end up on Abrams’ 2024 sophomore album The Story of Us, including “That’s So True,” the album’s biggest hit. Hobert’s own breakout single, May 2025’s “Sue me,” went viral for its borderline unhinged lyrics about hooking up with an ex (“I’m sorry that your dog died/Sorry that I’m, like, your dream bride”). Three months later, her debut album, Who’s the Clown?, establishes the once-reluctant singer-songwriter as one of pop’s most hilarious and unconventional new voices, gleefully blurring the lines between cool and cringe with songs that play out like voice memos from your funniest friend. She’s drunk in the Uber on “Sex and the city,” bored at the A-list party on “Chateau” (“Shit, how’d I even get in? And I’d love to get out”), and roasting her endless mirror selfies on “Thirst Trap.” And though Hobert seems allergic to taking herself too seriously, profundity slips through the cracks on songs like “Phoebe,” where she makes peace with insecurity while binge-watching Friends.