Gracie Abrams released her third album last month, Daughter From Hell, and has given a lengthy interview to Rolling Stone, about her songwriting, her status as a ‘nepo baby’ (she’s the daughter of filmmaker JJ Abrams) and two hugely influential figures in her life.
One of those is her current boyfriend, the actor Paul Mescal, who is currently filming Sam Mendes’ Beatles biopics. As we know, Mescal plays Paul McCartney, and Abrams has witnessed the long hours her partner has put in practicing playing guitar left-handed. “(It’s been) so amazing to witness,” she said. “He’s like an alien. I mean, he’s better at guitar backwards than I have been at guitar my whole life.”
Abrams suggests their relationship has boosted her own creativity. "It's had the most amazing effect on my writing. It has given me the most amount of space to reflect on everything in my life. It has held a mirror to me in ways that I didn't know a relationship with another person of any kind could. It has given me all the perspective that I could have ever hoped for, on previous relationships, on my relationship with my family, on my friendships. It is the greatest gift, period."
The other huge influence is Taylor Swift, whom she supported on her Eras Tour. “Something I've admired so much about Taylor (Swift)'s career, as a forever fan, is her output, not just from a place of quantity, but seemingly from a place of freedom within herself, to just be like, 'Yep, here's the nutshell from this time,'" she said.
"I think her years of experience tuning out feedback - quote, unquote - that's (the result of) an earned relationship one has with themselves. And that's helped me feel less precious, with my ego, about being like, 'Ooh, six months from now, am I not going to relate to this so much?' Who cares? I love it."
Daughter From Hell debuted at Number One in both the US and UK. Later this year Abrams embarks on a lengthy tour, entitled the Look At My Life Tour, that will keep her busy until the end of May 2027 at the earliest.
