Gracie Abrams
Talks New Music & Keeping It Real
Feature By Bailey Meyers
Interview By Cody Capalongo
Photo Credit: Vince Aung
In the three years since Gracie Abrams made her debut, her creative approach has fundamentally stayed the same. “Writing is at the center of doing the artist thing for me,” she explained. The musician has always been process-oriented, relishing putting pen to paper and pouring her genuine emotions onto the page since childhood. Growing up, Gracie loved writing and journaling and still credits her journal as a foundational part of her well-being and songwriting.
The 22-year-old shared her determination to stay true to herself via a press conference hosted by Universal Music’s creative solutions team,°1824. Gracie was adamant about increasing the representation of women in the industry, so she has worked on assembling an almost all-female team. Speaking plainly about her growth and fortitude within the music business, she explained that you could “get shit done the way you want to get shit done when you’re straight up with other people.” She also took time to give thanks to her friends and therapist, with whom she found solace, and to the generation of rising female artists who inspired her to stand up for her needs and be honest, to herself and others.
Gracie’s recent single, “Rockland,” produced by Folklore and Evermore producer Aaron Dessner, lets conscious listeners into her struggle reminiscing on a past relationship, which Gracie nearly whispers out over a plucked guitar in a way that would tickle the ear of any Phoebe Bridgers fan. The song’s simple lyric video features short snippets of gray skies, a few cars, a dark forest, and darker waters. Paired with Gracie’s pained lyrics, “Hey, I feel like if we gave it one night / you’d hate me less and make it alright,” and sparse percussion with ghostly background vocals, it elicits a sadness from deep within the chest that emanates to the extremities. The artist shared with us that Phoebe was one of her largest influences -- her first Soundcloud release at the age of 13 was a Phoebe Bridgers cover, which got her into creating music. Since then, Bridgers has expressed adoration for Gracie, making the feelings reciprocal.
Minor, the artist’s debut album, sees her in a very different place than she is today. Gracie is heartbroken, working through her connection with a lost lover. With snippets sourced from her journal, which she calls a “sacred space,” the songwriter told us, “I love to sing because I feel like I’m telling the truth when I’m doing it.” As Minor documented how Gracie dealt with her feelings through writing and music, some of her more recent songs tell a different story.
“Feels Like” Cover Art / Click to Listen!
In “Feels Like,” another recent single of Gracie’s, released on October 1, there is a shift of tone and subject matter. No longer crooning about a boy, Gracie expresses her love and gratitude for her close friends. She told us that she is “close in a familial way with [her] people” and that the song is a testament to a treasured memory of traveling to a Harry Styles fanfic screening in Connecticut with a friend from NYC. It was an incredible set of events, and she said she felt like she was in a movie the whole day, especially on the train.
The shift in “Feels Like” from lamenting love songs to an ode to a day with a friend connects to the artist’s journey in overcoming her anxiety, OCD, and the stuckness that Covid pushed many of us into. She told us she is now more prone to write about her friends, her therapist, and conversations she has with herself. Profusely grateful for her recent progress, she said, “It is incredibly lovely writing about everything else, ‘cause it’s like my romantic relationship is just a very small fraction of everything else that goes on. I want to play shows that have moments that aren’t depressing.”
A writer before a performer, Gracie was initially anxious about being on stage and had self-imposed expectations for writing and progress which drove her to be perpetually unsatisfied and unproductive. With strong support, she was able to acknowledge the anxiety that she faced and begin to improve her mental state, which she did. Every day, the artist committed to writing something—anything—even if it was a “short ass verse,” that would make her feel like she was doing something.
Perhaps most importantly, Gracie Abrams keeps things real. Releasing music that corresponds to her own journey, she stays true to herself by speaking candidly and with conviction on her personal opinions and history. At the same time, she keeps her music close to her inner thoughts and feelings. By channeling a journal of song scraps, Abrams puts pieces of her heart into her songs, creating sonic scenes laden heavy with emotion. It creates an irresistible sound, one that we can’t wait to hear more of in the future.