Gracie Abrams Was ‘Worried’ Her Music Would Suffer Due to Relationship With Paul Mescal

From “That’s So True” to “I Love You, I’m Sorry,” Gracie Abrams has proven she can write a good breakup song. But now that she’s happy and in love with boyfriend Paul Mescal, even she wasn’t sure how her songwriting capabilities would be affected.

In a Vogue cover story published Tuesday (June 9), the pop star opened up about her cozy life with the Irish actor and detailed how she learned to approach making music differently with a steady, balanced relationship in her life. She’s settled now in the London home she shares with Mescal, who’s currently filming his portrayal of Paul McCartney in Sam Mendes’ four-part Beatles biopic in the city; their place is filled with instruments, including a piano Abrams plays most mornings and guitars for both herself and Mescal, who’s picked up the instrument for the films.

“[He’s] so much better than I’ve ever been,” Abrams said in awe of Mescal’s guitar skills.

They were also based in London while Mescal was working on Oscar-winning film Hamnet, about which the Grammy nominee told the publication, “It feels like every day you come home and read the greatest book ever — that’s what it’s like to be in conversation with someone making something like that.”

At the same time, Abrams said that the domesticity she found with the Normal People star “freaked me out” when it came to her own art. “I was worried feeling secure and stable was threatening my drive to write music.”

The interview comes a little more than a month ahead of Daughter From Hell, the musician’s third studio album. Clearly, she found her way back to writing music, thanks in part to the guidance of her longtime collaborator and producer. “I have learned from Aaron [Dessner] that it’s OK to mine deeper and refine what you are naturally inclined to do,” she told Vogue, “even if that looks less shiny and new on the outside.”

Grounded instead in memories of causing chaos and starting conflict with her family as a teenager, Daughter From Hell is set to drop July 17. On its subject matter, Abrams reflected, “I wish I could go back and spend all of the time that I spent fighting my mom just listening to every drop of wisdom she has for me.”

Daughter From Hell will follow 2024 breakout album The Secret of Us, which reached No. 2 on the Billboard 200. The project spawned five Billboard Hot 100 hits, including Abrams’ first-ever top 10 single, “That’s So True,” which peaked at No. 6.

See Abrams on the cover of Vogue and photos from the shoot below.

This article was first published by Billboard U.S.