Gracie Abrams isn’t running out of steam. On July 17, the singer-songwriter will release Daughter From Hell, her third studio album.
Since the release of her debut, Good Riddance, and its follow-up, The Secret of Us, the 26-year-old has pushed to expand her range as an artist. This has meant playing in bigger rooms with songs that uncover new layers of her songwriting. It’s also meant building a creative partnership with producer Aaron Dessner.
“It’s definitely my favorite music I’ve ever made,” Abrams told the Hollywood Reporter earlier this year. “I feel very closely connected to it. I appreciate so much that these albums are time capsules of where I’m at in my life at any given point, but right now it does feel very like me. I hope that whoever finds it, connects with it and that they make it theirs when it’s out one day.”
Here’s everything we know about the album — and how it serves as a snapshot of where Abrams currently stands in her life and career.
“Hit The Wall” Is the Cathartic Introduction to Daughter From Hell
On May 14, Abrams shared “Hit the Wall” as the first single from Daughter From Hell. “Funny, ain’t it?/Flashbacks of my life/What a waste, oh, what a shame at night/Face to face with every girl that I tried to play,” she sings on a particularly devastating bridge. Abrams wrote “Hit the Wall” in New York following the conclusion of the Secret of Us tour.
“I was missing friends and feeling a bit disconnected from from a lot of my life, I suppose,” Abrams told SiriusXM. “It was the first time in a in a while I was able to put words to these feelings that are a bit intrusive and uncomfortable to sit with. It was really lovely and cathartic, honestly, to put it in one place, and I knew immediately that I wanted it to be the introduction to this album.”
Abrams Led Production on the Album Alongside Aaron Dessner
Building on the foundation they established on The Secret of Us, Abrams and Dessner co-produced Daughter From Hell together. “I can’t believe it’s been 6 years since Gracie and I started making songs together,” Dessner wrote on Instagram. “I’m deeply grateful for every song we have made and the way we have kept challenging ourselves and growing together as collaborators and friends, sometimes hitting the wall, and then pushing and breaking through.”
He added: “You’ll hear us expanding our musical vocabulary and pushing into uncharted waters sonically, and most of all the sharpening and deepening of Gracie’s lyricism and expression in ways that continue to astound me. I believe this album contains absolutely the most moving and powerful work we have done together — it feels elevated in every way — and I can’t WAIT until you all get to hear it.”
Daughter From Hell Started Taking Shape While Abrams Was Making The Secret of Us Deluxe
On Instagram, Dessner revealed he began working on Daughter From Hell with Abrams the same day they recorded “That’s So True” and “I Told You Things” from the deluxe edition of The Secret of Us. The extended version of the record arrived shortly after Abrams kicked off the Secret of Us tour, which spanned 11 months and overlapped with the creation of Daughter From Hell.
“Aaron and I are catching each other in these little pockets between hectic times,” she told Billboard. “Every day that I live with the music, things start to become a little clearer. There’s something we’re starting to crack that is making both of us feel energized … I’ve just been trying to take the pressure off myself to have to reinvent. I hope that I don’t get in my own way so much.”
Abrams Has an Extensive Tour Scheduled for the Album
On Dec. 2, Abrams will kick off the The Look at My Life Tour in support of Daughter From Hell. “We’re baaaaaack!!!!!!!!!!!!!!,” Abrams wrote on social media. “I HAVE MISSED YOU AND I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!”
The run will span multi-night shows across 27 cities, including four nights at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles and another four at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Abrams will be joined by special guest openers Rachel Chinouriri, Del Water Gap, Jensen McRae, the Japanese House, Holly Humberstone, Charlotte Lawrence, Grace Ives, Bella Kay, Samia, and Jake Minch on select dates.
