Ber’s happiness rushes in all at once. After years of trial and error, living in new cities, studying music in different ways, and finding true love, singer-songwriter Ber (Berit Dybing) has locked in to her best life. Her joy cannot be contained, and it’s spilled over into her debut album, the aptly titled alt-pop/country paradise Good, Like It Should Be.
Named for the album’s closing acoustic ballad, Good, Like It Should Be plays out like a contented sigh – an exhale upon realizing that yes, you deserve a strong, healthy love. Opening up about her journey to naming the album, Ber says, “It took me a really long time to figure out what the album was going to be called and what the track listing was going to be. I weirdly found myself in this place where we had too many songs, which was a blessing and a curse. Every time I would make any iteration of the album track list, it all centered around that song, not because I thought it was going to be some massive hit. But I just love it, and it feels really true. That was always my goal with making an album — for things to feel true.”
It felt like forever to arrive in this place, Ber admits. Growing up in northern Minnesota, Ber moved around a lot with her family, who would fill the house with records by the Beatles, Earth, Wind and Fire, Sheryl Crow, and Laura Marling. In warmer months, Ber’s parents would take her to bluegrass festivals and encouraged her budding interest in music and performing. In addition to playing the cello and guitar, Ber threw herself into local theater productions. “I never really imagined doing the artist thing,” she admits. “I liked playing guitar, and I liked playing Mumford and Sons covers in the one bar that had an open mic in Bemidji. But I never really thought I would be doing what I’m doing today.”
By the time she reached high school, Ber started to dream of a life outside of Minnesota. After graduation, she took a gap year to study jazz in Norway, an adventure that inspired her to remain overseas and continue her music studies in northern England, where she remained for three years. In her second year of music school, Ber uploaded a song to SoundCloud and was contacted by her now-manager. (“I thought I uploaded it private, but I didn't,” she laughs.) Initially, she wrote with artists, peers, and classmates—both in and outside of school—until she eventually had songs that felt entirely her own.
In 2022, Ber released her first EP, And I'm Still Thinking About That, which she followed up with 2023's six-song short-player Halfway and 2024's Room For You EP. Every step has led up to Good, Like It Should Be, an endlessly listenable 12-track project filled with warmth and lyrical depth.
Primarily written in Pepin, Wisconsin and Minneapolis, Minnesota, on a small Korg recorder, Good, Like It Should Be features co-writes and production from songwriters Rob Milton (Holly Humberstone, The 1975) and Bradley Hale (Now, Now), each of whom create sonic cohesion across its tracks, whether it’s the upbeat alt-pop opener “Good, Real” or the more stripped-down “Smooth Ride.” Ber says, “The album feels like a time capsule. It’s mostly about me getting out of my own way and learning how to let some of these good things in. The songs are not only about boys, but they're about me and how it feels to look inward a little bit more, rather than just describing whatever's in front of me.”
The harmonizing, Chicks-esque single “Give It All Away” echoes Ber’s realization that she has more power than she used to think. “Writing that song was really fun, and I tear up every time I sing it,” Ber says of “Give It All Away.” “Because I think about all my friends who are so good at spreading themselves thin and not taking care of themselves in the way that I want to take care of them.”
Ber’s introspection continues on the tongue-in-cheek country-pop gem “Who’s This,” which finds the singer poking fun at her tendency to gush over a new love. “It's just a song about me crawling out of my little depression hole and being this happy version of myself,” Ber says. “The world around me sucks, but I'm getting laid, so everything's fine.”
Euphoric album opener “Good, Real” also revels in the comfort and satisfaction of new love. “When we wrote that song, it was just new feelings for me,” Ber expands. “It felt like I was in a kaleidoscope, trying to navigate a lot of those feelings and being like, ‘Yeah, this does feel good.’ This isn't scary. I thought everything had to be hard.”
For all of its openhearted joy, Good, Like It Should Be also captures Ber at moments of deep uncertainty, such as on the vulnerable “Book Cover,” which recalls Golden Hour-era Kacey Musgraves in its acoustic country twang. “I remember when I wrote it, I just started crying,” Ber says. “Because all of a sudden I had this image of how it felt to be really overlooked as a person. I wrote it before I'd met my boyfriend, when I was really lonely and felt like I couldn't get anywhere in the UK, and no one would take me seriously.”
Later, on the sweetly midtempo and beachy “Cool, Boy,” Ber recalls a “pseudo situationship” that taught her what she didn’t want in a romance going forward. “I felt like he was using me a little bit, and he was too cool to actually acknowledge any emotions anywhere. We created a character loosely based on that guy,” Ber says. “That song surprised me a lot. It’s in a different lane than the rest of the album, but in a really fun way. I loved being able to chase a pop song; it took me out of my little country bubble for a moment.”
Finally, on the laid-back “Smooth Ride,” Ber opens up about letting herself genuinely bask in the arms of a great relationship. “I think songs have a way of creeping up on you, and that one existed for a long time until it was right,” she says. “It's such an effortless love song about trust falling. When it came to looking at songs for the album, and I realized what the album was about, there was finally space for that song.”
As Good, Like It Should Be demonstrates, happiness takes on so many forms, whether it’s discovering her authentic voice as an artist or accepting the love she most deserves. Loving another — and yourself — should be that good.
